The Path Once Traveled
by Bill K
Summary: A sequel of sorts to "Minako Through The Mirror". The Outer Senshi were unable to assist the inners against the demon Sureiya Dodekai because they were involved with finding a missing woman and investigating an invasion from outer space.
1. Missing Person

THE PATH ONCE TRAVELED

Chapter 1: "Missing Person"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

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Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2009 by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei Animation and are used without permission, but with respect. Story is (c)2009 by Bill K.

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Noriko Abe walked down the side street in the office district of Tokyo and basked in it being deserted. A street in the Tokyo office district without people on it was a rare thing. Space was always a premium in Tokyo, particularly in the office district. On more than one occasion Noriko had remarked to herself or to her life mate that the office district often resembled a bee hive, and not in a good way. Like worker bees, she and her fellow office workers came to the hive en masse, performed their tasks like dutiful bees, and departed at quitting time - - if they were lucky. Often the "queen" would ask them for overtime and, being dutiful Japanese bees who conformed and did what they were told, they would comply. This was one such evening and the street traffic had thinned considerably. But in a way, that was all right. Noriko enjoyed the peace and freedom of having an entire street to walk down and not have to share.

Her high heels clicked on the cement sidewalk. Noriko was best described as having a quiet beauty. She had very soft skin and almost child-like features, save for the inquisitive violet eyes that peered out cautiously through square black-framed glasses. Her full mane of black hair flowed down her back to her waist, pulled away from her head save for a thick shock of unruly bangs that dangled across her forehead. A champagne colored bow captured her flowing tresses at her shoulders.

Fashion was equally quiet for Noriko Abe. At work, she stuck to a uniform of white long sleeve blouse and knee length charcoal skirt, but her home apparel was hardly more flamboyant. She was constantly teased about it, in a good-natured way, by her house mate and lover. A small smile crossed Noriko's lips as she thought of the bold, flamboyant, athletic hedonist who had captured her heart. Confident where she was quiet, energetic where she was - - quiet - - and an exotic mix of American Welsh, Irish and Hawaiian ancestry to boot, her love had brought sunshine into Noriko's rote, uneventful life. The fact that Noriko seemed to do just as much for her as she did for Noriko only made life even sweeter.

At the end of the street was a small tea shop nestled in the office district. That was Noriko's destination. That was where she bought the imported Hawaiian blend coffee that her lover adored. The shop owner imported a small supply just for her, at her request, and she faithfully visited the shop once a week to pick some up. It was one of the little things Noriko liked to do to show her affection for the woman that had brought such vibrancy and joy into her life. And if nothing happened, she would just be able to pick up the coffee before the shop closed for the night.

But as Noriko passed by a darkened gap between two office buildings, hands lunged out at her. She only had a second to react and, having led a safe, secure little life, she was too slow. A weathered, leathery hand clamped over her mouth while a thin, sickly arm caught her around the waist. Instantly panicked, Noriko struggled to pull away. But despite the seeming frailty of the clutching arms, they resisted her struggles and pulled the woman into the darkness between the buildings. The last sight of Noriko Abe was of her right hand clutching out of the shadow, desperately seeking to grab onto anything and keep from being pulled into the darkness.

* * *

A blue Fiat sped through traffic with precision and ease. Though January, the streets were dry, allowing the driver to gun the car a little. While Haruka did it to impress her passenger, she also did it because it was fun. Driving a car at a high rate of speed was one of the few times in her life she was free of all earthly restraints and tethers.

"I wish I could drive like you," her younger sister, Junko, remarked.

"Got your license yet?" Haruka asked.

"Got to learn how, first," Junko replied. She was in her typical "comfort" uniform of baggy beige twill pants, a checked shirt over a light blue blouse, the shirt tied at the waist and the sleeves rolled up, and the latest name brand athletic shoes. Her long blonde hair was tied off midway with a scrunchy.

"I could teach you," Haruka offered.

"Could you?" Junko asked and Haruka got the impression that had been Junko's goal in bringing the subject up. She smothered a smile.

"Sure," Haruka said, then cautioned, "but we'll have to start soon. The Formula-1 circuit starts up in mid-March and I have to start practice for it First of March. But I can give you all of this month and next."

"Great! I'll give you every weekend! I'd give you the weekdays, too, but we both know Mom and Dad will insist I study."

"I insist, too," Haruka shot back. A sound from her cell phone alerted Haruka. She glanced at the text message on it while waiting at a traffic light. "Hey, how about that!"

"Good news?" Junko inquired.

"An acquaintance of mine had a baby boy," Haruka announced. "At this rate, Makoto's going to have ten kids in no time."

"You want to stop off and visit them?" Junko suggested.

"It's probably not a good idea," Haruka replied and Junko could see the pain of past wounds welling up again. Haruka tried, but she had too many scars to successfully conceal them all.

"Why not?"

Haruka sighed. "Makoto and me have had - - issues - - in the past. I'm not certain she'd want to see me this close to the birth. I wouldn't want to spoil her happy moment."

"These issues," Junko probed. "It's not because you're lesbian, is it?"

"No. Makoto accepts that. It's just - - well, you know how charming I can be. We kind of got off on the wrong foot and since then it's been a civil distance. If we didn't have overlapping friends, well . . ." She noticed Junko staring impatiently. "OK, maybe in a few days. Boy, you sure know how to nag like Mom does."

"Sore loser," needled Junko.

"Ready for school to start?" Haruka asked, changing the subject.

"No," Junko scowled. "I wish I was done with school. Oh, and thanks for taking me shopping, Haruka."

"No problem," Haruka nodded. "Although I still don't understand why you girls take so long to choose an outfit."

"What do you mean 'you girls'? You're a girl, too!"

"Well it doesn't take me a half hour to buy an outfit."

"Why, does Michiru buy them?" Junko needled slyly.

But Haruka didn't acknowledge the barb. It was then Junko noticed that Haruka seemed to be very far away. It was only at the last moment that Haruka noticed a traffic light turn red and brought the Fiat to a stop.

"Haruka?" Junko inquired. "Are you OK?"

"Hmm?" Haruka asked, seeming still very far away. Then what her sister asked registered. "Oh. Sorry. Spaced for a moment."

"Did you have a premonition?" Junko asked.

"What?"

"You know, like Mom always has! She says she always knows when someone is talking about her because she can feel it."

Haruka smiled at the familiar memory. "No, nothing like that." Haruka pulled out into traffic and executed a flawless right turn. "I was just staring at a very pretty woman walking down the street," she lied.

"You better not let Michiru hear about that," Junko teased.

"Hey, I'm disaffected, not suicidal," Haruka quipped back. To her relief, for Junko could always be a little more inquisitive than Haruka was comfortable with, Junko's family home appeared in the distance. "Well, here you go, kid. Better get inside before Mom thinks I'm raping you."

"Don't joke about that, Haruka," Junko remonstrated her. Then she brightened. "I'll call you about our driving lessons."

"Sure," Haruka nodded, then thought. "Um, I might get called out of town on racing business. If you don't get an answer, that's probably what it'll be. If that's the case, I'll call you when I get back so we can set up a time for your driving lessons. Meanwhile get a book on traffic regulations from the library and study up."

"Gotcha," Junko said and closed the door. Then she leaned in. "And remember, no looking at other women or Michiru spank."

"You have no idea," Haruka grinned and pulled away from the sidewalk.

Junko watched her go. She wondered if the sudden distraction Haruka suffered late in their drive had anything to do with sailor business. She felt bad sometimes that Haruka didn't know she knew her sister's dual identity. It could be one more thing for them to talk about. But it could also be something that might drive a wedge between them. Until she knew for certain, Junko vowed to keep the secret. She didn't want to risk losing Haruka so soon after finding her.

Haruka pulled the Fiat into the garage at the home she shared with Michiru. It disturbed her that she had to lie to Junko, but the sensation she had disturbed her more. Alien forces were once again in the Milky Way galaxy and she knew she might be needed as Sailor Uranus. If only she dared tell Junko about her dual life. Part of her thought the girl could handle the revelation. It might even enhance her image in Junko's eyes. But she didn't know yet if she could risk it and her growing relationship with Junko had become very important to her.

"Babe, I'm home!" Haruka called out as she entered the home. Michiru called back from her studio. As she headed for the room, Haruka found herself not wanting to disturb the creative mood Michiru must have been in. However, she reasoned, Michiru probably felt the sensation too.

But to her surprise, Haruka found Michiru was not alone in the studio. Setsuna was there as well, as was another person. It was Elza Gray, her old track rival from high school and the woman who had introduced her to Michiru. Elza was still lean and in shape. She seemed capable of running a hundred yard dash right now. Her hair was still short and dyed magenta, her face still a quirky blend of Hawaiian and Welsh-Irish. It seemed like ten years had barely passed since Haruka last saw her. But all of that was quickly forgotten. Elza was in Michiru's arms, crying pitifully. It was several moments before she even realized Haruka was in the room. When she did, her anguish ramped up several notches.

"Haruka!" she cried out, desperate and pleading. "You have to find her! You have to help me find her!"

"Find who?" Haruka asked as Michiru held on to the hysterical woman. "Elza, find who?"

"Noriko!" Elza wailed. "She's gone! She's been missing for four days now! Something's happened to her, I know it!"

"Elza, please. You have to calm down," Michiru told her, trying to sooth her. "Who is Noriko?"

"I'm sorry," Elza whimpered. "Of course you don't know her. Noriko is the woman I'm in love with. We share an apartment over in Minato-Ku. Oh, Michiru, the last four days have been a nightmare!"

"Have you talked to the police?" Haruka questioned.

"Yes," Elza sniffed. "They took a report and - - and they said they'd search for her. It's just the longer it goes, the more I'm afraid I'll never see her again! That's why I came to you, Michiru! I figured that since you're Sailor Neptune, you'd have ways of finding her that the police don't!"

A chill ran through the room, one that Elza was too distraught to notice. Each one of the outer senshi looked to the other, surprised and anxious over Elza's unexpected revelation. At last Elza noticed the silence and looked up.

"Oh," she whimpered, lowering her eyes. "I suppose I should have told you that I know about you, Michiru."

"Perhaps you'd care to tell me how you came to this conclusion," Michiru replied stiffly, her eyebrow arched.

"It was thirteen years ago, back when I was still at Shirakaba High," Elza began. "That time I was attacked by that strange woman and Sailor Moon and the senshi came to my rescue. I recognized you as Sailor Neptune, Michiru." Michiru continued to stare questioningly. "We'd only stopped dating a few months earlier, Michiru. I still knew the way you moved - - the way you carried yourself. Nobody carried herself like you did, Michiru. It was one of the things that initially attracted me to you." Her gaze came up desperately. "I'm sorry if this puts you in a delicate position, Michiru, but I need help! Noriko means everything to me!"

"I understand, Elza," Michiru told her, gripping her hand for support. "Of course we'll do whatever we can to find her. But you've got to be strong for her, Elza. You've got to be there waiting for her. You've got to be ready to nurse her if she's hurt. And," and Michiru paused just a second due to the indelicacy of her next thought, "you've got to be prepared if - - it's already too late."

Elza nearly crumbled with that statement, but kept herself together. "I will, Michiru. I promise. Just find her, even if it is too late. I'd rather be the one to bury her than have it be some stranger who - - who doesn't love her."

Setsuna observed from the far corner of the room, seeing Haruka move in and place a steadying hand on Elza's shoulder. Elza reached up and grasped it gratefully.

"Elza, you're welcomed to stay overnight if you don't feel up to going home," Michiru offered.

"No," Elza shook her head resolutely. "I should be there - - in case . . ." The words trailed off and Elza's sodden tissue returned to her eyes."

"Very well," Michiru nodded. "Haruka?"

"I'll drive her," Haruka nodded and gathered the woman up. After Elza was out of the house, Setsuna moved from her position in the back of the room and sat down near Michiru.

"I was unaware of a history between you and Miss Gray," Setsuna commented.

"We had a brief fling in high school," Michiru mused, distracted by the problem at hand. "It was before I transferred to Infinity Academy. It was - - fairly entertaining, but we quickly realized that we were both looking for something different. Fortunately Elza and I parted friends. She knew what I was looking for and nudged me toward Haruka. I'll be eternally grateful to her for that." Michiru took a solemn breath. "I can't imagine what happened to this Noriko of hers. In a way, I'm hoping the woman just dumped Elza and fled, because the alternative is so much worse."

"There are," Setsuna began cautiously, "other matters that demand our attention."

"The fact that there are unknown alien entities in the Milky Way Galaxy?" Michiru asked. Setsuna nodded. "I felt it, too, Setsuna, even before your visit. You showing up only confirmed what I was feeling."

"And yet, you are torn," Setsuna stated.

"Of course I am," Michiru argued.

"Our mission must take precedence over personal concerns," Setsuna reminded her.

"I realize that," Michiru bristled. "But I owe her, Setsuna."

"I sympathize, but nevertheless . . ."

"Perhaps they're connected?" Michiru offered.

"That is a rationalization," Setsuna countered.

"You don't know!"

"Michiru, it is just as likely that the battle the inners fought in Roppongi today is connected to our premonition. I do sympathize, but you are grasping at straws."

Michiru ran her hand through her hair. Setsuna could see the mighty conflict raging within the gentle artist. It pained her to see her friend like this, but she knew her duty as an outer senshi.

"I'm sorry, Setsuna," Michiru whispered, avoiding her friend's gaze, "but I have to do this. I'll try not to be long. Look into the other problem. If you need help, call me and I'll come, immediately. But - - I have to do this. I owe her."

"As I expected," Setsuna replied inscrutably. "Proceed as you feel you must. I will soldier along. Join me when you are able. Hopefully both of us will complete our missions quickly and without harm."

"Thank you, Setsuna," Michiru said and hugged the taller woman.

As Haruka entered the home again, she saw Michiru had her henshin stick out. Her transformation phrase spoken, Michiru was enveloped in light. When the light died away, Sailor Neptune stood between her and Setsuna. Her hand reached above her and the Deep Aqua Mirror materialized in her hand.

"What's the plan?" Haruka asked, for all three knew that Haruka would follow anywhere Michiru would lead.

"I'm going to see if I can locate Noriko," Michiru said vacantly as she stared into the mirror.

Tense moments passed as Haruka and Setsuna watched. Neptune stared into the mirror, oblivious to everything around her. Finally, after an eternity, Neptune returned to this plane of reality. She let the mirror drop to her side and it faded from view.

"Did you find her?" Haruka asked. "Is she alive?"

"She seems to be," Neptune replied distantly. "I couldn't quite tell where, but her trail seems to start in Akasaka - - which doesn't make any sense, since it seems to be a residence of some kind."

"What is it, Babe?" Haruka inquired.

"Setsuna," Neptune began, still staring quizzically at nothing, "these cases may be linked after all. When I saw her in the mirror - - unless I somehow was looking at the wrong person completely - - I detected an - - an extraterrestrial presence about her."

"Indeed," Setsuna remarked.

Continued in Chapter 2


	2. Missing Perpetrators

THE PATH ONCE TRAVELED

Chapter 2: "Missing Perpetrators"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

The blue 2005 Fiat-Mazel Prototype roared easily through the streets of Tokyo in the evening. The car was an experimental vehicle pioneered by Fiat Motors of Italy and engineered by Mazel of Spain. It had cost Haruka Tenoh seventy thousand five hundred and sixty one Euros- - roughly ten million, seven hundred and fifteen thousand yen or one hundred thousand dollars American. Plus another one hundred twenty thousand yen to have it custom painted and add-ons installed. But there were only six of the cars in the entire world, and five of them were in the possession of Fiat engineers. Haruka didn't care. It was a nice car - - and Michiru had been impressed, despite the howls she made when she saw the price tag.

"You OK back there, Setsuna?" Haruka asked, glancing into her rear view mirror.

Setsuna was scrunched into the back seat, her legs draped into the other seat. This Fiat Prototype was a four-seater, unlike most Fiat sports cars, but the leg room wasn't the greatest and Setsuna did have extremely long legs. Michiru had pulled the front seat as far forward as she comfortably could, but it was still tight in the back. Usagi could have fit, but Setsuna had a good seven inches on Usagi.

"I shall endure," Setsuna replied politely, "for the good of the mission."

"Next time, buy a minivan," Michiru suggested. "They're cheaper, too."

"I'd rather shoot myself than drive a minivan," Haruka scowled.

The Fiat executed a right turn expertly, hugging the road with minimal loss of speed. The three were in civilian identity so as not to telegraph their arrival to whatever might be waiting for them. Michiru had the location they were headed for firmly in her head. Seeing three women out for a late night drive would likely lull their opponent into a false sense of security, possibly even embolden them to strike. Then when they were at ease or over-extended, the Outer Senshi could transform and make a quick strike.

"Michiru," Setsuna said suddenly. "I am puzzled by one thing. If this case is connected with the disappearance of your friend's house mate, why are we just now sensing their presence?"

"How do you mean?" Michiru replied.

"The Abe woman has been missing nearly four days," Setsuna rephrased, "and yet we only sensed today the alien presence in the galaxy."

"It is an anomaly, I'll admit," Michiru commented. "But I know what I sensed. Noriko Abe has a spirit aura that is not of this world. What other conclusion is there?"

"If that is the case," Setsuna persisted, "then how have the aliens been able to mask their presence for four days? And if they possess such capability, how can we be certain that they have not been present for longer than four days?"

"And what caused their cloak to slip, letting us sense them today," Haruka continued the thought. "She's got a point."

"Agreed," Michiru nodded. "But they're questions we can save until after Noriko Abe has been rescued. You didn't see her. The poor woman is in agony."

As they drove, Setsuna studied the back of Michiru's head, as if trying to divine the woman's innermost thoughts.

"May I ask a personal question?" Setsuna began.

"About my past with Elza Gray?" Michiru inquired.

"Yes. Forgive me if I pry."

"It's no secret," Michiru shrugged. "Elza and I were a very passionate flame for a few months. She's got a very beautiful inner light," and Michiru found herself grinning self-consciously, "and the outer package is exquisite. We're still very close. We just weren't right for each other and we both realized it when the initial passions cooled off." She twisted around to get a look at Setsuna. "Besides, it's like I said before. I owe Elza. She helped me find my love. If it's at all possible, I'm going to get hers back for her."

"And before you ask, I'm all for this," Haruka added. "I go back with Elza just as long as Michiru does. And I owe her just as much." She glanced mischievously at Michiru. "Although I wasn't wrinkling sheets with her."

"Your loss," Michiru replied smugly.

"Hey, I can always . . ." Haruka began.

"Not if you want to live long," Michiru cut her off. Setsuna smothered a smile.

The Fiat pulled up across the street from a residential home on the border with the Akasaka business district. The home seemed a little shabby, but otherwise ordinary. Haruka and Michiru got out, then helped Setsuna pry herself out of the back seat. As one, the three looked the house over with a critical eye.

"This is the home I saw," Michiru nodded.

"Has to be," Haruka agreed. "The wind is screaming at me."

"I concur," Setsuna added. "All my senses speak to me of this. Whether it is the alien presence we sensed earlier or not, it is an alien presence and must be dealt with."

Three hands went out. Three henshin sticks appeared. In seconds, three outer senshi sprinted quickly to the house. Neptune took the front door, Pluto the back and Uranus scaled a tree and leaped onto the roof and a hatch access to the attic. Only if one had been looking for them would they have been seen.

"Locked," Neptune frowned silently as she tried the door knob. "Breaking in would be too noisy and I don't have the skills to pick the lock."

There was a decorative window at the top of the door in a sunset pattern. Rising up on tiptoes, Neptune peered into the window. She couldn't see anything, but that in itself was a curious fact. There were very few furnishings to the house that she could see and Neptune got no sense that anyone lived there. That didn't mean, though, that the house was unoccupied.

"Hopefully I'm not alerting anyone inside at a critical moment for Uranus or Pluto," Neptune thought as her hand went up. The Deep Aqua Mirror appeared in her hand. Bringing it down, she pointed the face of the mirror at the lock. Whispering "Submarine Reflection", Neptune engaged the energy beam of the mirror. The lock, and for that matter the lock mechanism and the knob, vaporized into acrid smoke.

With her senses keen and alert, Neptune entered the home and stepped into the entry hall. Her eyes were on a swivel, darting left and right as she cautiously stepped forward. The interior of the home was barren and bleak. The walls were faded and unkempt, the wood floor old and dull. Several steps inside allowed her a glimpse of the living room. It was similarly barren and unused. A pair of stray chairs and an old sleeping mat were the only furnishings the room could claim.

"It seems abandoned," Neptune mused silently, surveying everything about the room. "And yet, there isn't a great deal of dust in the center of the room. It was occupied recently by someone or several someones and cleaning wasn't a huge priority."

A scent caught Neptune's nose and she turned. Coming down the hall was Pluto, armed with her Time Staff and ready to use it at the slightest provocation. However, that wasn't the scent Neptune caught. She paused and sniffed again as Pluto approached.

"The kitchen is barren of furnishings and appliances," Pluto reported. "The draperies on the windows seem designed to keep prying eyes out and nothing more. The sink is dry and has not been used in ages, assuming the water is still functioning. A small room adjoins the kitchen. It is similarly void of furnishings." Pluto frowned. "But I am convinced that there was activity here recently."

"I get the same impression," Neptune agreed. "Do you smell that?"

Pluto turned and sniffed the air. "I smell nothing. But my nose has never been as keen as yours. What do you smell?"

"An odor," Neptune replied absently. "Stale and dry, almost arid. It's very faint." Suddenly she turned and looked up the steps to the second floor. "I wonder where Uranus is?"

"I have heard no sounds of battle or alarm," Pluto offered. "Perhaps she is just being thorough."

"Perhaps," Neptune whispered, staring up the stairs.

After a few seconds, Neptune pressed the call signal on her senshi communicator. It was a silent page, so as not to betray her position should Uranus be concealed from a potential enemy. After a few seconds of torment for Neptune, Uranus was seen on the screen.

"What's up?" Uranus asked.

"Just curious about your progress," Neptune lied. "I'm with Pluto. The first floor is empty."

"Second floor and attic, too," Uranus reported. "There's not a stick of furniture in this place. No phones. No bulbs in the light fixtures."

"And yet the sense of an alien presence won't go away," Neptune finished the thought. "I want to check the basement, but it's possible whatever was here isn't here now."

"I've got one more room to cover," Uranus said. "I'll be down in a couple of minutes."

"I'll wait for you," Neptune answered, then closed the channel. She glanced at Pluto.

"If what you conclude is true," Pluto speculated, "then how were we detected?"

"I don't know," Neptune replied. "Maybe they have some early-warning system. Maybe they sensed my mirror probe. Maybe they've been watching us from the start." She looked around uneasily at the empty house. The silence was eerie and the growing evening shadows gave the home an even more unearthly character. "We may not find our answers until we find our intruders."

Several minutes later, Uranus joined them. She descended the stairs cautiously, walking on the side of the step nearest the banister so as not to risk a creaking board. Once the three Outers were reunited, they ventured to the entrance to the basement. The lower level was completely black, with no light source other than the open door. Faint light spilled onto the stairway, but the last three or four steps were swallowed up by the darkness.

"I can use the Ruby Orb to light our way," Pluto suggested, "but it will betray our presence and mark us as targets should something be lurking down there."

"Maybe we should just flip the light switch," Uranus countered. "If anything is still in this place, they probably already know we're here."

Neptune took a breath, then nodded. Uranus could tell that she wasn't thrilled with the choices she had and Uranus didn't blame her. Her hand reached over and flipped the switch. Nothing happened. Was the electricity even on to the house? With no other options left to them, Pluto waved her hand across the Garnet Orb atop her Time Staff. The Orb began to glow red. The Outers began a careful descent.

The floor was bare concrete at the bottom of the stairs. The walls were cinder block, painted with a pale yellow substance that probably doubled as a water sealant. As they cleared the first floor, Pluto swung her staff out to illuminate as much of the basement as she could. The three senshi could see several more sleeping mats on the floor. There seemed to be nothing else in the basement except for a floor drain and a dangling socket bereft of a bulb. On the far wall was a fuse box. Down the wall from the fuse box was a deep sink. Pluto reached the bottom of the steps and swung her staff around to light up the wall parallel to the stairway, as well as underneath the stairway. Something was in the far corner against the parallel wall.

It wasn't moving.

Pluto and Neptune advanced on the object while Uranus turned and guarded the rear. As they approached, they could see that the object looked like a pile of clothing laying on a mat. But when they were almost on top of it, the two saw it was more.

"A person," Pluto commented. "Does he live?"

Neptune knelt down and pushed the heap of clothes and bones over. When the light struck the face and chest of the person, they both knew. Even in the eerie garnet-tinted light, they could see the withered, emaciated condition of the corpse. It had once been a man, a salaryman by the look of the suit. Dry, brittle black hair hung atop parched, leathery skin. The skin was stretched over the bones like mummy wrappings. The eyes had receded into the sockets. The tongue had withered into a desiccated lump in the mouth. It almost seemed like touching the body would turn it to dust.

"It is as if this body has been in this room for four thousand years," Pluto assayed, "perfectly preserved in mummified form."

"Only I doubt he's been here four thousand years," Neptune replied. She felt along the pants and produced a wallet. "His driver's license lists his age as forty-four. Takashi Miroko, lives on the lower south side. Credit cards, membership cards, pictures of a woman and three kids - - a man's life distilled into a few effects. I wonder how long they've been missing him."

"Can you tell what killed him?" Uranus asked as she kept guard.

"I see no wounds," Pluto said, examining the body carefully. "It is as if he was robbed of every liquid in his body - - blood, water, other chemicals and solubles, leaving behind petrified skin and muscle on bones."

"What could do that to somebody?"

"Perhaps if the body was baked in a giant kiln for days upon end," Pluto scowled, "or freeze-dried in some process. Other than that, nothing of this Earth that I am aware of."

"The aliens? Why?"

"This is getting us nowhere," Neptune stood up. She summoned the Deep Aqua Mirror. "I still get a faint alien presence from this basement. They were here, recently. Maybe I can pick up their trail."

Passing her hand over the glass, Neptune stared into the face of the mirror. Pluto stood up and brought the Ruby Orb closer to give her more light, while Uranus maintained her vigil. Neptune slipped into a trance, staring at the mirror blankly. Occasionally her face would momentarily betray an emotion of surprise or dismay. Pluto studied her reactions. Finally fatigue seemed to set in. Neptune dropped the mirror to her side and her chin to her chest.

"What did you see?" Uranus asked eagerly, her voice tinged with concern.

"I saw," Neptune began, hesitantly because she seemed to be unable to believe what she saw, "Miroko-San grab Noriko Abe off of a deserted street in Akasaka. He dragged her through the back streets and alleys to this house. He brought her down here. There were several other people here. And then . . ." Neptune paused, incredulous.

"And then?" prodded Pluto.

"Something," Neptune began again, "some thing - - transferred from Miroko-San to Noriko. It took her over. It seemed to control her actions. She became a blank slate, suggestible, under the will of something else. She and the others just lay down on the mats and did nothing."

"And Miroko-San?" Pluto inquired.

"He shriveled up into a raisin," Neptune replied, aghast, "almost instantly." She put her hand to her forehead. "I think - - it's some sort of parasitic relationship."

"They're feeding off of the people they capture?" Uranus gasped.

"That was the impression I got," Neptune said gravely. Then she scowled in frustration. "Unfortunately that was the only impression I received. I have no inkling as to where they went from here."

"They?" Pluto queried. "There is more than one parasite?"

"I saw three other people with Noriko and Miroko-San," Neptune reported. "They were all in the same blank, suggestible state she was in. And that was just who was here when the parasite transferred to her. There may be even more."

"Perhaps we should call in The Princess and the Inners," Pluto suggested.

"You saying we can't handle it?" Uranus bristled.

"This is not the time to focus on jurisdictional matters," Pluto replied. "These parasites have already killed one man, a man who probably was very important to his wife and family. Four other human beings are threatened, including the partner of your good friend. And there is no telling how many more may be threatened by these parasites, if there are more than the four we know of - - or if they are capable of breeding in this environment."

"All right," Neptune said, holding a hand up to symbolically separate the other two. "Pluto, neither Uranus nor I would dream of telling you how to act. If you feel consulting Usagi or the Inners will help, you're free to do so." Then the diplomacy in Michiru's green eyes changed into steely intent. "But I'm not finished probing yet. And I'm sure Uranus has a trick or two as well."

And with a regal manner, Neptune let her mirror fade and headed for the stairs.

"There's no more we can do here," Neptune proclaimed. "I'll notify the police so they can take charge of the body and close off the house." She paused on the step and looked back, the iron hammer cloaked in a velvet cover. "You're welcomed to stay with us overnight, Pluto. Or would you prefer that we drop you off somewhere?"

* * *

Evening surrounded the quiet house where Haruka and Michiru resided. It would be midnight in a half hour. Michiru was in her studio, playing her violin absently as she thought over the situation. Setsuna was in the guest room - - her former room, when she lived with them full time - - meditating on something. Haruka didn't ask what. Setsuna always was a little odd and unearthly, and Haruka was content to leave her to her own devices as long as she produced results.

Haruka sat on the back step, her cell phone in her hand. On the phone were photos of Makoto's newborn baby, which both Ami and Minako had sent to her via text message, as well as a picture of a thumb that Usagi had sent thinking it was a shot of the baby. Haruka stared at the picture of the baby.

"Hell of a world to be born into, kid," she murmured.

The phone rang. Haruka glanced at the caller id number and then opened the cell.

"Why aren't you in bed?" Haruka asked.

"Who says I'm not?" Junko shot back on the other end.

"Then why aren't you asleep?"

"It's only eleven thirty. Why aren't you asleep?"

"Because grown ups can stay up later than kids," Haruka taunted.

"Bite me," Junko growled.

"You call for a reason or are you just checking up on me for Mom?"

"As if! I was just wondering if we were still on for my driving lesson this weekend?"

"Um," Haruka scowled. "Maybe not. Something's come up."

"Bad news?"

"For a friend."

"Do I know her?" Junko asked.

"You follow track?" Haruka queried.

"No."

"Then you don't know her. But, she's in trouble, and Michiru and I have to help her . . ."

"I understand," Junko said and Haruka could tell she really did. "That's what you do. You're the type of person who helps people when you can."

"Boy, somebody's been feeding you a line," Haruka joked.

"Yeah, nice try, girl, but I don't buy that 'aloof loner' act anymore. You're a nice person, in spite of what you want other people to think. So help your friend. I can wait."

"Thanks, Junko," Haruka whispered into the phone, her eyes misty.

"And tell me how it turns out," Junko added, then disconnected. Haruka folded the phone up.

"Maybe some day I can," she whispered.

Haruka went back to listening to the wind, hoping it could tell her where Noriko Abe was. So far all the wind was telling her was that it was January and it was cold.

Continued in Chapter 3


	3. Missing Memories

THE PATH ONCE TRAVELED

Chapter 3: "Missing Memories"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Setsuna Meioh's eyes shot open. She was in the guest room that Michiru had provided. She sat, cross-legged, on the bed and had been meditating. Her hand came up and rubbed her temple.

"I must have fallen asleep," Setsuna whispered to herself, for she was often her own best counsel. The woman glanced over at the clock on the night stand. The numerals went from midnight to twelve-oh-one.

Climbing off the bed, Setsuna picked up a robe that Michiru had provided and donned it. The robe was slightly too short for her, owing entirely to her unusual height, but Setsuna didn't give it a second notice. Tying the sash, she ventured out of the bedroom and into the house. Her feet padded silently on the floor and her green-black hair, bereft of the ball knot that usually held it up, swayed slightly behind her and tickled the floor boards.

Silently, she exited the home and stopped on the back porch. The night air was chill, but she didn't notice. Haruka sat on the step and stared out at the yard, but Setsuna didn't acknowledge her. Her breath came out in a fine mist, but it was ignored. Setsuna only looked up into the night sky and stared at the stars. Finally, after a period of time neither noticed, Haruka stood up and turned to go inside.

"Setsuna?" she exclaimed, startled by what she found behind her. "What are you doing out here?"

Setsuna didn't reply at first. She only stared up at the stars. Curious, Haruka looked to see what their guest was staring at, but could see nothing unusual. The sandy blonde turned back to Setsuna.

"Something has happened," Setsuna said at last. She continued to stare at the stars.

"What? What happened?" Haruka demanded.

"I," Setsuna began, then halted. A look of confusion crossed her face. "I do not know. But there is something now different about this world," and she continued to stare up into the sky, "and it has been that way since midnight."

"The aliens?" Haruka queried.

"I cannot say," Setsuna replied. Then she turned and looked directly at Haruka. "I cannot even say why I know what I know. I can only guess that it is linked to the time-spanning intuition that is destined to flower within me one day."

"I thought you could already do that time stuff," Haruka wondered. "Those weren't card tricks you used against Pharaoh 90 and the Deathbusters."

"The Sailor Pluto you fought with against Pharaoh 90 was one of my future selves," Setsuna informed her. "She came to me just before my talisman had revealed itself and explained her plan. She took my place in order to direct the battle to a successful conclusion through use of her knowledge of the past and her power over time." Setsuna looked away. "I have no such power yet. Were one of my future selves here, she would be able to explain what has happened this night much more conclusively. But something has happened and this world is different."

"We better tell Michiru about this," Haruka frowned. Then she grew an ironic smile. "Although I really hate to wake her up. You know how cranky she gets when she doesn't get her sleep."

Setsuna struggled to stop it, but a grin of recognition flashed across her lips for a second.

* * *

Haruka awoke with a start. She glanced at the clock and found that it was nearly eleven in the morning. She started to get up, but the stiffness in her back stopped her short.

"Fell asleep in the chair," Haruka thought. "Haven't done that in a while. I guess I can't stay up all night like the old days."

Glancing over at the sofa, she found Sailor Neptune sprawled across it, her Deep Aqua Mirror in one hand. Recalling the previous night, when Neptune had summoned the mirror upon hearing Setsuna's proclamation concerning the world changing at midnight, Haruka smiled. She ambled over and leaned down. Her mouth sought out Neptune's.

"Mmm!" Neptune mumbled, waking with a start upon feeling the kiss. When she realized it was Haruka kissing her, she surrendered to it with a loving sigh. Finally their mouths parted. "Oh, you know how I love to wake up," she giggled.

Haruka sat down next to her and turned the television on with the remote. Neptune pulled herself up to a sitting position.

"I must have fallen asleep," Neptune judged with some disappointment.

"It's OK," Haruka said, rubbing her thigh. "You're allowed human fatigue. And I conked out, too."

"I remember," Neptune smirked. "You look so adorable when you're sleeping." She sobered. "But I didn't get any closer to finding Noriko or why Setsuna thinks the world around us has changed - - or the aliens, for that matter. How are they able to hide from my mirror?"

"Maybe you're not looking for the right thing," Haruka suggested. She continued to stare at the news program. A commercial was running for the comedy series "Island Princess", starring Ai Fujitsu.

"Good morning," Setsuna said, bringing in a tray with some cups of tea and a pot. "Did you have any success?"

"None," Neptune scowled, allowing her form to revert to Michiru as she took up a cup. "Are you any clearer about what you felt last night?"

But Setsuna was staring at the commercial on the television.

"Setsuna?" Michiru inquired.

"That commercial," Setsuna frowned. "It is not correct."

"What, for that comedy series?" Michiru asked.

"It is not correct," Setsuna repeated.

"I didn't know you were a fan," Haruka said.

"I am not," Setsuna stated. "I do not watch television. I have never seen this program in question before. And yet - - I know this actress is not the star. It is," and Setsuna stopped suddenly.

"Don't you remember?" Michiru asked.

"No," Setsuna replied. "But I believe I did - - once."

"OK, now I'm officially spooked," Haruka murmured.

"Could the aliens have done it?" Michiru wondered. "Is it possible that you've encountered them once already and your memory was wiped?"

"If we accept that premise, then it is possible that we all fought them once and do not recall," Setsuna answered. "But why would we suddenly sense them yesterday?"

"I wonder if it has anything to do with this?" Haruka asked and pointed them to the television. The news had cycled back to the top story, a report on the previous day's battle in Roppongi between the Inner Senshi and an oni. "That little scrap the Inners got in disrupted the power for a lot of Roppongi and I think some areas of Akasaka. If they've got some sort of cloaking field and they're tapping city power to run it, the blackout would have dropped the field."

"That's not a bad thought, Haruka," Michiru nodded. "You could be right."

"So how do we use that? Black out the city and wait to see if we get a line on them?"

"I think I've got a less drastic way," Michiru smiled and picked up the phone.

While she was on the phone, Setsuna went into the next room. Alone, she transformed into Sailor Pluto. Her head lolled back as she stood, and her eyes closed. After a single deep breath, the Garnet Orb detached from her Time Staff and hovered in front of her. The Orb bathed Pluto's face in an eerie under light as it sat suspended in the air before her. Pluto's mouth began to move, forming soundless words that seemed intended for the Orb. She paused, as if listening to a soundless voice.

Silently Haruka entered the room. She watched from the doorway, quietly observing everything Sailor Pluto did. It was unusual behavior, to say the least. But then, how much did either she or Michiru really know about Setsuna? Until last night, Haruka thought she had fought side by side with this Pluto against Pharaoh 90. She knew now that was wrong. She'd thought this Pluto had somehow miraculously escaped the helicopter explosion. Maybe that was wrong, too. And they knew nothing about Setsuna's past. She never talked about her parents, her childhood, nothing. She'd just shown up that one day when Eudial nearly killed them both. The woman had Sailor Pluto's look and powers, and the senshi vibe that both she and Michiru sensed, so they'd accepted her without questions. But they knew so little about her past.

Maybe this wasn't unusual behavior.

Pluto seemed to come out of her trance just as Michiru peeked in behind Haruka. The Garnet Orb returned to the top of the Time Staff. Pluto's senses returned to the present time and place. Suddenly feeling the presence of her two fellow senshi, Pluto looked over to them.

"I apologize if we intruded," Michiru said.

"It is nothing," Pluto replied. "I was exploring the sensations I have been having."

"And did you find anything?"

"Nothing that makes sense," Pluto said, her brow furrowed. "I believe the time line has somehow been altered."

"By whom?" Michiru gasped. "The aliens?"

"I fear I still cannot answer that. The images I received - - at present make no sense to me." Pluto reviewed her memories silently.

"How'd you do at your end?" Haruka asked Michiru.

"Another dead end," Michiru frowned. "I called my reporter friend to see if he could find any unusual power spikes in the Tokyo power grid. He called someone he knows at metro power, but they said there wasn't."

"Well, it was worth a shot," Haruka shrugged. "Maybe they're not cloaking through some device. Maybe it's innate within them."

"Then what caused the disruption?" Michiru posed. "You were on the right track, Haruka. I sensed their presence right about the time of the Inners' battle in Roppongi."

"Michiru," Pluto exclaimed suddenly. "Do you still have the picture of Noriko Abe?"

"Well, yes. It's in here," Michiru replied, puzzled. "Did you remember something?"

"Perhaps," Pluto said.

The three went back into Michiru's studio. Michiru pulled the photo Elza Gray had given her out of her desk drawer and handed it to Pluto. The senshi stared at it.

"One of the images I saw when I was in contact with the Garnet Orb," Pluto told them, "was of this woman."

"Where was she?" Haruka asked.

"An apartment setting of some sort," Pluto replied. Then she focused again. "And this other woman was with her."

"Elza?" Michiru asked. "Did they seem happy?"

"No," Pluto replied, fighting to recall what she had seen. "Noriko was - - calm and confident, as I recall. But Elza seemed frightened of her."

"Maybe we better get over there," Haruka suggested.

"I'm not barging in on Elza without good cause," Michiru replied, opening her cell phone and punching in a number. "There's no telling when what Pluto saw might happen."

Moments passed as Michiru waited for an answer. As they watched her, both Haruka and Pluto could see the woman grow more and more anxious. Finally she closed the cell phone.

"We need to get over there," Michiru said apprehensively.

Elza Gray turned the corner and jogged down the street. Curious passers by turned and looked at her. She was used to it. Some stared because of her mixed ancestry. Some because of her athletic endeavors. Others because they lusted after her. She was used to it, because it had been that way all of her life. Elza had always stood out from the moment her white father and Hawaiian mother had moved to Japan. Noriko always said it was because everyone instantly saw how much better she was than they were. They couldn't help but look.

Thinking of Noriko made her eyes burn again, but Elza pressed on. Her salmon and white nylon jogging warm-ups kept her protected against the January cold. The day may have been slightly gray, but it was still nice enough for her to get her daily run in. Even though Elza hadn't run track in years, she still ran at least once a day unless the weather was absolutely horrible. She ran regardless of bad weather, aching joints or troubled thoughts. It was one of those normalcy touch points in a person's life, one of those things that anchored a person adrift in a bobbing sea of uncertainty.

That's why she was out here now. She needed some sort of normalcy, even for a moment. She couldn't sit by the phone and wait any longer. It was the first time she'd been running in three days. Somehow, knowing Michiru and Haruka were on the case made her feel just a hair more confident that Noriko would be brought back to her. Even if she hadn't deduced that Michiru was Sailor Neptune, knowing Michiru was involved helped her feel more confident. Michiru had that effect on people. The woman was always in control, always commanded a situation, no matter what situation she was in. It was one of the things that had initially drew her to Michiru those many years ago. Even at fifteen, Michiru knew what she wanted, knew where she was going, and knew what had to be done to get there. She never initiated controversy, but she never shied from it and never went into a controversy unprepared to win.

And then there was Haruka. Haruka may not have Michiru's mental acumen, but she had every bit of Michiru's steel and determination. It was that determination - - and a little bit more talent - - that kept Elza from ever beating her on the track. For a time, Elza had wondered if Haruka was one of the other Sailor Senshi. The willowy blonde had the makings of an Olympian in track, but never pursued it after meeting Michiru. Perhaps it was because she and Michiru had more pressing concerns, concerns that threatened the entire world.

Or maybe they had just been too busy exploring each other. Elza knew Michiru's passionate side first hand. If Haruka was anything like Michiru in that respect, their initial coupling might have lasted for months.

As Elza jogged in place at a traffic light, she went for her pants pocket to check her cell phone for messages.

"Damn," she muttered. "I must have left it at home." Melancholy draped her face once more. "Noriko always said I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached."

Elza felt her eyes sting again. The light changed and she continued on for home.

Only when she reached the courtyard to her apartment building did Elza stop running. Her thighs had that familiar burn and her lungs and sinuses had that sharp feeling of winter air circulating through them. Panting, feeling drained but momentarily alive again, Elza walked up to the apartment building. The burden of worrying about Noriko was still there, but it didn't tie her body up into knots now. If she was too drained to be on edge, she wouldn't be on edge - - or so her thinking was. For now it was working.

She searched for her key card, praying she hadn't forgotten it again. It was because she kept forgetting it that the rental company had given her a pass code to key in. Elza had just reached a spot under the roof over the security door when she stopped. For a moment, she thought she had detected movement to her right. Looking over, her eyes popped.

"N-Noriko?" she whispered.

Noriko was standing near the corner of the apartment building. She seemed to be all right, physically. But she just stared, like she was numbed by shock. Bursting for the woman, Elza raced to her side and clutched Noriko by both upper arms.

"Noriko! Are you all right?" Elza wailed. "What happened to you? Where have you been?"

Noriko didn't respond. She looked at Elza as if seeing her but not comprehending her.

"Come on!" Elza sobbed, hurrying Noriko to the security door. "What did they do to you, Noriko?"

The woman allowed herself to be taken inside, but said or did nothing. Elza led the bespectacled, raven-haired woman through the lobby and into a waiting elevator, amid curious stares from the other residents present. The elevator whisked them up to her fifth floor domicile.

"Noriko?" Elza ventured, hands trembling as she caressed the woman's forehead. "Can't you tell me anything? It's all right now. You're safe. I won't let anything else happen to you. Can't you tell me what happened?"

But Noriko would only stare at her without comprehension.

The elevator opened and Elza led Noriko to their apartment. Removing the key she kept fastened in her jogging suit, Elza opened the door. She led Noriko in and bolted the door behind her.

"We'll call Michiru," Elza said out loud, both for Noriko's sake and for her own. "Maybe she can figure out what's happened. You don't know Michiru, Sweetie. But she's . . ."

As she turned to Noriko, Elza suddenly found a hand clamped over her mouth. Another hand closed onto her shoulder for control. To her amazement, Elza found the hands were connected to Noriko, and that Noriko's expression had changed from vacant to aggressive. In self-defense, Elza dropped down and managed to pull out of Noriko's grip. Quickly scrambling away, Elza reached the doorway to the living room and turned to face her. Noriko was crouched like a predator ready to strike.

"Noriko?" Elza gasped in shock and horror. "What are you doing?"

But Noriko didn't respond. She just started coming closer.

Continued in Chapter 4


	4. Missing Familiarity

THE PATH ONCE TRAVELED

Chapter 4: "Missing Familiarity"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Haruka parked the Fiat several doors down from the apartment building Elza Gray lived in. It was as close as she could get without double-parking; had it been necessary, she would have double-parked - - or parked on the sidewalk. She, Michiru and Setsuna jumped out of the sports car and ran up to the security door of the building. Michiru searched the panel for the buzzer to Elza's apartment and pressed it.

The three waited expectantly. When there was no response, Michiru pressed it again.

"Come on, Elza!" she fumed, pressing the buzzer a third time.

"Perhaps she is out," Setsuna suggested. "I do not know when the events I foresaw are due to occur."

"I'll feel a lot better when I know they haven't already . . ." Michiru began. The buzzer light lit up, signaling a return communication.

"HELP ME!" they heard Elza shriek over the intercom. "HELP . . .!" and then the board went silent.

Instantly Haruka went into action. She tried the door, but it was securely locked and forcing it would take time they probably didn't have. Lashing out with her foot, Haruka broke the bottom pane of glass, drawing startled looks from the few people who were in the lobby. Several more sharp kicks broke out the remainder of the pane. Haruka bent down and popped through the empty bottom pane of the door, followed quickly by Michiru and Setsuna. As they headed for the elevator, a maintenance worker came running over.

"Hey, what do you think you're . . .!" he began.

Haruka intercepted him and with a shove threw him to the floor. Michiru was at the elevator, pressing the call button while Setsuna guarded her from attack. The elevator arrived and the three women boarded it.

The elevator opened onto the fifth floor. Sailor Uranus sprinted out, followed by Sailor Neptune and Sailor Pluto. Uranus arrived at the door to Elza's apartment first. She tried the knob and when she found it locked she delivered a savage kick to the door. The lock exploded inward. The door swung open, barely restrained by its hinges. Uranus plunged in and found a woman who looked like the picture she'd seen of Noriko Abe with one hand over Elza's mouth and the other clutching her throat.

Acting instantly, Uranus cut the distance between them in moments. As Noriko pivoted to defend herself, Uranus threw a shoulder into the woman's hip and planted her into the carpet. The impact momentarily drove the fight out of Noriko and Uranus moved to restrain her. However Noriko began to struggle to get away and Uranus discovered that this small woman had unusual strength.

"Uranus, do you have her?" Neptune called out as she propped Elza up. Pluto moved to aid Uranus, her Time Staff up and ready to use.

"I think so!" Uranus roared. "She's putting up one hell of a fight for her size, though!" Using her larger frame for leverage, Uranus pressed the struggling woman face first to the floor and leaned in. This allowed Uranus to pull one arm behind her. "Stop fighting me! You can't get away!"

Noriko responded with an animalistic snarl that raised hackles on everyone in the room.

"Neptune!" Pluto commanded, kneeling down to help Uranus. "Can you find something to restrain her with?"

Glancing at Elza, who was crying hysterically, Neptune wondered what to do. Quickly reaching a decision, she eased Elza to the floor, then searched the room. Pulling a phone cord out of the wall, she raced over and, as Uranus and Pluto held them, bound Noriko's wrists behind her. Dissatisfied with the tableau, Neptune went to Elza's computer and pulled out the modem cord, then returned and bound Noriko's elbows together in the small of her back. Once she was bound, the fight seemed to go out of Noriko and the woman sagged onto the floor. Neptune used this respite to return to Elza.

"Elza?" Neptune inquired, kneeling next to the sobbing woman. "Are you hurt?"

"What happened to her?" Elza pleaded, sobbing and staring up into Neptune's face. "Michiru, what did they do to her?"

"Elza," Neptune began. Elza remained hysterical. "Elza!" she said more sharply. "Get hold of yourself, Elza! You need to be strong - - for her!"

Neptune held on to Elza's shoulders while the former track star struggled to get hold of her emotions. It took a couple of minutes, but to her credit, the woman finally succeeded. She looked up at Neptune, terrified but hopeful that the senshi could put things right.

"This isn't going to be easy for you to hear, Elza," Neptune told her, trying to keep the emotion out of her own voice, "but you're going to have to hear it. Noriko has been - - taken over."

Elza's eyes grew saucer wide.

"Some alien entity came to Earth and has taken over several people," Neptune continued. "Noriko was one of them."

"W-What do they want with her?" Elza stammered out.

"As far as we can tell," Neptune responded, her agony unable to still her voice, "they're feeding off of her."

For a moment, Neptune feared Elza would lose her mind from sheer terror. The woman's hands shot to her mouth, her eyes silently screaming.

"Elza!" Noriko suddenly wailed. "Help me!"

"Quiet!" Uranus snapped, shoving Noriko's head into the carpet. Elza looked at her love, then back at Neptune with a sense of betrayal.

"Don't listen to her, Elza!" Neptune told her in that commanding manner she had that always garnered respect. "It's not Noriko! She's being controlled like a puppet!"

"B-But . . .!" Elza mumbled.

"If we hadn't gotten here, she was going to take you back to the others and you were going to be their next victim," Neptune stated. "It's only Noriko from the outside."

And Elza dissolved into a new round of mournful sobs. She curled up into a fetal ball and cried. Moved by sympathy, Neptune leaned in and held her while Uranus and Pluto looked on with similar emotions. The outpouring lasted several more minutes. During this time, a curious neighbor peered in through the open door. A baleful glare from Uranus quickly sent her on her way.

"M-Michiru," Elza whispered out after several minutes in a voice thick with emotion, "tell me you can help her. Please tell me you can make her Noriko again."

"I," Neptune began, then considered what and how much to say. "I don't know yet, Elza. But I'll try, with every power and every device available to me. I vow that to you."

Elza didn't look at her. She didn't have to. She knew Michiru and she knew Michiru would hold to her vow.

"Hold it!" roared a voice from the doorway.

Everybody looked up and found two police officers in the doorway. Their guns were drawn and they were ready to fire. One was about to order everyone to the floor, but they recognized the familiar garb of the Sailor Senshi. The pair eased slightly. Sailor Pluto rose to full height and calmly walked over to them.

"You're one of the Sailor Senshi?" one of the officers asked. He looked up at Pluto, as she towered over them both.

"Yes," Pluto responded. "I apologize for the trouble we have caused. Unfortunately it was necessary to protect the resident of this apartment.

"Which one are you? I don't recognize you," the other officer said, reflecting back on the collector's edition Sailor Senshi maquette figurines that decorated his desk at home.

"I am Sailor Pluto," Pluto told him. "I do not mean to be brusque, but you must leave. You are both in potential danger."

"Gen, there's no Sailor Pluto in the senshi," the officer told his partner. "The planets only go up to Jupiter."

Outwardly, none of the Outer Senshi betrayed any emotion. But they all felt the suspicion rise in the room. The Inner Senshi were the famous ones in Japan. The Outer Senshi were the ones who moved in the background. Though known in some circles, they were much less famous to the common people. They didn't have fan magazines and collector's maquettes. Usually that was a good thing. It gave them more freedom to move and fewer demands upon their time. But what was usually so wasn't always so.

"Exactly what is going on here?" the partner asked Pluto. She could see he had a much more cynical glint to his eye than a moment ago.

"This woman," Pluto replied, pointing to Noriko, "is carrying an alien entity. Through her, we hope to track the alien colony before it can gain other victims."

The two officers stared incredulously.

"Everything I have just stated is factual," Pluto reiterated.

"We're going to have to sort through this at headquarters," the lead officer said. "Please accompany us."

"Officers, we can't do that," Sailor Neptune stated, interjecting herself into the confrontation. "Every moment we delay may mean the lives of innocent people, starting with that woman." And she pointed to Noriko, still being restrained by Uranus.

"Gen, you'd better call for back-up," his partner murmured. His weapon started to come up.

"We don't have time for this!" Neptune snapped irritably. Her hands rose up as the gun rose. "Deep Submerge!"

A tidal wave of water appeared out of nowhere and struck the two officers full force. Helplessly swept away, the officers rode the wave down the hall of the apartment building until they impacted with the end wall. The water dissipated there, leaving two stunned police officers behind.

"Well, we can't stay here any longer," Neptune turned to Pluto and said. Turning to Elza, Neptune helped her to her feet. "Come along, Elza. We'll take you and Noriko to our home. There we'll - - do what we can for her."

"We better take the stairs down to the lobby," Uranus suggested, hoisting Noriko onto her shoulder in a fireman's carry. "I don't want to be surprised when the elevator opens."

The other two outer senshi nodded. Neptune collected Elza while Pluto led the way. It was a short trip down the stair well. After peering through the door into the lobby to judge the situation, they transformed back into civilian forms to attract less attention - - at least that was the plan. Stunned residents stared as Setsuna led the others through and out the door. They got to the Fiat without incident. Jamming into the car, they pulled away and into traffic.

But as they pulled away, Setsuna's eye was caught by a strange sight. Turning to look back, she saw a woman with hacked-short blonde hair dressed in green surgical scrubs walk by, using a sheet of plastic for a shawl. Her eyes lingered until the woman disappeared around a corner.

And all through the trip home, she couldn't shake the feeling that she somehow knew the woman.

"You do realize," Setsuna said from the back seat, her arms holding Noriko down, "that your actions against the police will have repercussions?"

"There wasn't much choice," Michiru frowned. "I can only pray that it doesn't hamper us down the line. I'll make reparations if it comes to that."

"I'm sorry, Michiru," Elza squeaked. "I'm sorry for all of this. Sorry you had to get involved."

"Not a word of that, Elza," Michiru replied, turning back to the woman. "This is our job. This is the mission we were chosen for. It comes with the territory."

"But," Elza persisted, "what if you have to-to go to jail?"

"If it frees Noriko and ends this menace, I'm willing to do it."

At the residence Haruka and Michiru shared, the four women brought Noriko into the kitchen. After changing back into their senshi forms, Noriko was secured to a chair by Pluto while Neptune stared intently. There was little sign of life to Noriko other than her chest moving.

Huddled off in a corner, Elza watched the scene. She struggled not to dissolve into utter panic. This was all so devastating to her, something that had completely shattered her safe, cozy little life. Elza found herself wanting, needing something, anything that could give her a hint of security. She even found herself longing for the familiar touch of her mother's arms around her, something she hadn't felt this strongly about since childhood. If it wasn't for her need to be there for Noriko, Elza might have given in already and just shut down.

"Maybe," Neptune said, looking to Pluto for confirmation, "I could try the mirror again. I doubt she's going to tell us anything voluntarily."

Pluto seemed less than optimistic about her friend's chances, but only nodded. What else was there to try at the moment? As Neptune summoned the Deep Aqua Mirror, Uranus noticed Elza. She wandered over to her one-time "rival". Elza didn't seem to notice at first in her preoccupation with Noriko. But after she watched Neptune stare into the mirror for a time, Elza glanced up at Uranus.

"We'll set this right," Uranus offered.

Elza nodded.

"So," Elza began timidly, "so this is why you - - stopped running?"

"I didn't stop running. I just stopped running competitively." Then Uranus thought a moment. "Or were you talking about something else?"

"Competitively," Elza replied. "I already knew why you stopped running from life. I was glad you two hit it off. She needed someone after we broke up. I'm glad for her that you were that someone. I'm glad for you, too. You needed someone in your life, too."

"Yeah," Uranus agreed.

"At the time I felt so guilty that I couldn't be the someone Michiru needed. She always kept it so well hidden, that need of hers. Only the people who are intimate with her know about it." She glanced timidly at Uranus for a moment. "It was pretty obvious in you, though."

"Well I was never much for hiding things," Uranus responded.

"All the girls at my school always used to watch you when you'd run against us," Elza continued. "I think half of them wanted to go out with you, in their fantasies. They always thought you were such a tragic figure. I think that's what Noriko saw in me that attracted her to me, at first."

"You, a tragic figure?"

"Life hasn't been easy for me after school," Elza admitted. "I trained so hard for the Olympics - - to the exclusion of everything else. When I didn't make it, I didn't have a plan B. I was twenty-one, my track career was pretty much over and I hadn't paid enough attention in school to do anything else."

"What did you do?"

"Drifted. I went from dead-end job to dead-end job. Hit the clubs. Nothing fulfilled me. Nothing and no one. I don't know why I never seemed to connect with anything. I guess it was because none of the jobs involved running - - and none of the women were Michiru." Elza glanced up at Uranus. "Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah," Uranus nodded grimly. "A lot of sense."

"Well, I'm not in that situation now," Elza admitted. "I don't need fulfillment at work. I have fulfillment at home. I'd quit my job today if we could afford it. I don't need it. When Noriko comes home after one of her days at the office, I'm there to brighten her day. And that brightens mine. And work doesn't matter. It's a way to fill the time until Noriko comes back home. I love her so, Haruka. I want to put the world at her feet because she does so much for me." Tears began rolling down Elza's cheeks again.

"How long you two been together?"

"Seven years," Elza whispered through her emotion. "The happiest seven years of my life." Her hand went to her mouth. "If she's not there anymore, I don't know what I'll do."

With that, Sailor Neptune sagged with frustration. The Deep Aqua Mirror dropped to her side. Noriko stared up at her and, to Uranus at least, seemed to have a look of triumph.

"Michiru?" Elza asked fearfully.

"I can't connect with anything," Neptune answered. "Somehow, the mirror can't lock onto anything concerning this alien other than fragmented images. It's entire nature must be just too different." She turned to Elza with a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry. Unless we know what we're dealing with here, there's no way to know how to get it out of Noriko."

"Logically something must affect it," Pluto spoke up. "If only to disrupt its ability to remain hidden. Recall that we did sense its presence during the Inners' battle in Roppongi."

"But what?" Neptune responded. "Was it the supernatural aura of the creature they were fighting? Was it one of their attacks? Was it something else?"

"Why do you persist?" Noriko hissed in a guttural growl that sounded anything but human. Everyone turned to her, still bound to the chair. "Why do you torture me this way? I only seek to feed - - to survive! We have no designs on your planet! We only seek to survive! We have the right to survive as a race!"

"So do we," Neptune turned and eyed Noriko with a steely gaze. "And we have the right to deny your survival if your survival comes at the expense of ours."

"Philosophical riddles!" Noriko bellowed. "Release me! I must find another body!"

"Why?" Neptune asked pointedly.

Noriko remained silent.

"Because that one will expire soon?" Neptune demanded.

Elza's gasp of horror was the only sound in the room. When no confirmation came from Noriko, Neptune turned and headed for the phone.

"Who are you calling?" Uranus asked.

"Sailor Mercury," Neptune replied as she dialed. "Maybe she knows some method of putting Noriko into some sort of suspended animation to keep her from dying before we can extract that parasite."

Then, without warning, Noriko sprang up. Still bound to the chair, she lunged forward toward Elza.

Continued in Chapter 5


	5. Missing Humanity

THE PATH ONCE TRAVELED

Chapter 5: "Missing Humanity"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

"Hold!" Sailor Pluto shouted, bringing her Time Staff to bear. Noriko, spurred on by the creature within her that fed off of her body and controlled her actions, ignored the warning and lunged toward Elza. She gambled that Pluto wouldn't fire upon her inside the home of Haruka and Michiru. It was a desperate gamble, but then it was a desperate parasite.

For her part, Pluto held up from firing. It was inside the house, and in such close quarters there was the risk she might hit Uranus, Neptune or Elza as well as Noriko. Uranus, though, had no such problems. As Noriko passed by her on the way to Elza, her torso still anchored to the kitchen chair, Uranus reached out and clothes-lined her across the chest. With a blow bordering on savage, Uranus flung Noriko to the floor onto her back, then leaned in with her left hand pressing down against the woman's chest. Noriko's glasses bounced off of her face and skittered across the floor. In one motion, Uranus raised her right hand above her head. The Space Sword appeared in her hand.

"GIVE ME A REASON!" Uranus bellowed belligerently. It was designed to cow compliance out of the alien controlling Noriko, but there was no doubt in anyone that Uranus would attack if provoked.

Then, unexpectedly, Noriko began to scream. It wasn't a scream of terror or anger. It wasn't a venting of emotion. It was the scream of something in intense pain. It was the wail of a living creature in so much agony that those around it were shaken down to their bones, who prayed to their gods that such a thing never happened to them. Startled, Uranus eased for a second. This wasn't a reaction to the impact with the floor. This was something else.

"DON'T HURT HER!" Elza shrieked.

She lunged out and captured Uranus's sword arm with both of hers. Elza clung to the arm, protecting Noriko her only thought. Uranus looked back at her, annoyed, but understanding why she did it. Later she might even sympathize. Then Neptune entered the picture. With calm determination, she peeled Elza off of Uranus's arm and pulled the struggling woman away.

"No!" Elza wailed. "Michiru, don't let her hurt Noriko! Please, it's Noriko! Please!"

"Elza," Neptune said, turning the woman and looking directly in her tear-filled eyes. "Please don't interfere."

"I don't get it!" Uranus shouted. "She didn't hit the floor that hard! Is she faking it?"

"Maybe she's expending too much of Noriko's life force and it's catching up to her," Neptune suggested. She felt Elza stiffen in her grip.

"Uranus," Pluto said suddenly. "Your sword - - bring it closer to her."

Uranus complied. It was as if she'd shoved it blade first into Noriko's abdomen and twisted. The woman screamed in agony and began thrashing wildly under the senshi's grip.

"It's the sword!" Neptune said what everyone else had concluded.

"Indeed," Pluto added, observing the scene intently. "Though I doubt it is the sword itself."

"The jewels on the hilt?" Uranus asked.

"Unlikely. Your tiara has the same jewel and she did not react," Pluto analyzed. "I can only conclude that the unique energy the sword draws from you and alters into its attack is affecting it. Perhaps you can use this energy to force the entity from Noriko's body."

"I can't do that!" Uranus cried. "My energy arcs would chop her head off!"

"Yes," Pluto nodded patiently. "But if you are able to manifest the energy within the sword without firing your energy arcs, it could be safely used against the alien."

Uranus expelled air. "All right. I'll try," she replied unenthusiastically.

Shifting so that she straddled Noriko's mid-section, Uranus began to concentrate. The blade of the Space Sword began to shimmer, then glow faintly with a yellow-white energy. Still emitting small grunts of pain, Noriko stared at the blade with wide-eyed suspicion. Agony was clearly evident on her face. Neptune could feel Elza clenched against her, sharing sympathetic pain with Noriko. The glow gradually became more and more radiant.

And Noriko screamed as if her soul was being wrenched from her.

"STOP IT!" Elza shrieked. "YOU'RE KILLING HER!"

"She's already dying," Neptune said as she held Elza at bay. "It may be days, hours, or even seconds from now." Elza swung around and stared at her, betrayal coloring her face. "I'm sorry, Elza. If there's any way to prevent it, I will. I swore that to you. But to save her, she has to be separated from that parasite in her, and I don't know how much pain or injury that will bring her. And if she can't be separated," and Neptune took a moment to summon her courage, "well, my first responsibility is to see that these things don't spread. And if that means Noriko's life - - I'm sorry."

Turning, Elza tried to wrench away. Nothing seemed to register in her mind except the howls of agony coming from her Noriko's mouth and her single-minded need to protect the only thing in her life that made it worth living. Neptune held on, her heart breaking inside. Uranus kept the blade inches from Noriko, perspiration covering the senshi's face as she strained to hold back her sword's attack in the face of the energy built up in the blade. Her arms shook with the effort. Noriko howled again and again, howled until it seemed like she would go hoarse. Light from the sword blade threw eerie shadows onto the walls of the kitchen. Noriko howled again.

And then she went limp.

"NORIKOOOOOOOOOO!" Elza wailed.

Uranus started to feel for a pulse, then pulled back as a long, black, multi-legged creature crawled out of Noriko's nose. It resembled a centipede, but in an unearthly way. The creature looked up at Uranus. Then, with tremendous speed, it launched itself at the senshi.

The Space Sword intercepted the creature in mid-air and cleaved it in half. The energy in the blade caused it to disintegrate.

"Uranus?" Neptune asked anxiously.

"I'm all right," Uranus replied. "It didn't get close enough." The senshi reached down and felt along Noriko's carotid artery. "She's alive, but I don't like the way this pulse feels."

"She seems to be going into shock," Pluto judged. "Quickly, we must cover her and get her to medical attention."

Neptune released Elza and went into the next room. Elza quickly slid down to Noriko's side as Uranus moved aside. Unable to speak from terror and anguish, Elza only crouched beside her love, grasping the woman's hand and gently stroking her forehead and cheek. Uranus exchanged a sympathetic glance with Pluto as Neptune returned with a blanket. Gently nudging Elza aside, Uranus scooped Noriko up and headed for the Fiat. Elza clung to Noriko's hand, while Neptune and Pluto followed.

In the Emergency Room, a medical team began working on Noriko. Elza followed as far as the door, then was barred. She stood for a moment, blankly, then sagged against a wall and sank to the floor. Neptune immediately moved to console her.

"Rotten way to go," Uranus murmured, feeling Pluto near her. "I just about lost it when I saw that thing crawl out of her nose."

"And unfortunate that it was destroyed," Pluto replied. Uranus looked at her askance. "Without it, we have no leads to where the other creatures are. I am happy that Noriko is free of its influence, but there are others out there. It may have been possible to interrogate the parasite, or possibly draw clues from it. As it is, we have little to work with."

"Yeah," Uranus grunted, looking back at Neptune and Elza. "I guess so."

"Excuse me," a doctor said, approaching the two senshi. He was thirty-ish, with black hair and a serious manner, dressed in surgical scrubs. His hospital ID said his name was Kujawa. "You're the ones who brought the shock victim in?"

"Yeah," Uranus nodded.

"Are," he began, eyeing them uncertainly, "are you Sailor Senshi?"

"We are. I am Sailor Pluto," Pluto said. "This is Sailor Uranus."

"We're the ones they don't talk about much," Uranus added as recognition didn't immediately come to Dr. Kujawa.

"I see. Um, could you tell me what happened to the patient? There's physical evidence that she's been in a fight."

Uranus glanced to Pluto.

"Her name is Noriko Abe," Pluto began. "For approximately five days she has been - - the host for an alien parasite."

Both senshi could see Dr. Kujawa goggle at that news.

"I assure you that what I am telling you is fact," Pluto reiterated. "An alien parasite took possession of her body and was both feeding off of her and controlling her actions. We were able to remove the parasite only by force, and the result was the victim going into shock."

"So this - - parasite - - was tangled into her central nervous system?" Dr. Kujawa asked. "I assumed that the shock was due to dehydration and malnutrition." He turned back to the senshi. "And the ligature marks on her wrists? The bruises on her chest?"

"It was necessary to restrain her," Pluto added.

"Do you have this parasite?"

"No. It was destroyed."

The doctor frowned.

"You can help her, can't you?" Uranus asked.

"Well, we've got her on intravenous fluids for the dehydration," Kujawa replied. "That will hopefully arrest the shock - - unless it's been caused by invasive spinal damage from this - - what am I saying? It's too fantastic to even give credence to!"

"We had an oni tearing up Roppongi yesterday," Uranus shot back. "Is this any harder to believe?"

"I guess not. I'll get a neural specialist down to look at her," Kujawa said. He directed them to the admissions desk. "Is that the next of kin over there? If you can get her to fill out some of the necessary paperwork . . ."

"What's the worst case scenario, Doc?" Uranus asked point blank.

"I'd prefer not to discuss such things until I know more," he replied. "And only with the next of kin."

Uranus glared as he walked off. Pluto leaned in.

"The possibility of death from shock and trauma exists," Pluto told her. "As well as from the extreme depletion of her life energies due to the parasite. There is also, I would imagine, a distinct possibility of full or partial paralysis if spinal trauma exists."

Uranus locked her jaw in anger.

"These aliens cannot elude us forever," Pluto said, trying to rein in her friend's temper. "We will find them somehow."

Pluto went over to Neptune and Elza. Uranus reluctantly followed. Pluto knelt down beside them while Uranus glared at everyone else.

"Is there any news on Noriko?" Neptune asked.

"It is," Pluto began delicately, "too soon to tell."

Elza seemed to wither just a little more.

"I apologize, Gray-San, but reality intrudes," Pluto told Elza. "There is hospital paperwork which requires your attention."

Elza shuddered out a breath.

"I'll help you with it, Elza," Neptune offered. With her help, Elza got to her feet and trudged over to the desk. Despite the startled looks Neptune got from the desk staff, they were concerned and diplomatic with the fragile Elza. But when they were partially into the paperwork, Uranus noticed several men approaching. Two were uniformed police officers. Two more were hospital security staffers. A fifth man wore an off the rack suit and tie, but his manner and carriage spoke volumes. He had the bearing of some sort of security official, either with the hospital itself or with the Tokyo police department . Uranus frowned. She was already antsy to get out of this hospital and back on the trail of the aliens. These men didn't bode well for her accomplishing that.

"Excuse me," the plain clothes official said, interjecting himself into the gathering while the uniformed men hung back. "Which one of you is the leader of this group?" He flashed a badge that indicated he was a Tokyo police detective.

Uranus didn't respond. She just stared, silently challenging the official to go further. Neptune was still helping Elza and glanced furtively at Pluto. The gangly senshi stepped forward.

"Our Princess is not with us at this time," Pluto told him. "I will endeavor to answer any inquiries you may have. And you are?"

"Detective Yomiyuri," the man frowned. "We received a report that you brought in a battery victim?"

"That is technically correct, though 'battery' is an inadequate description of what occurred," Pluto explained patiently.

"What happened, exactly?"

Pluto began to explain what had happened to Noriko Abe. As Uranus watched with stony silence, she could see the skepticism growing in the faces of the detective and his men. Internally she raged at the inequity of the world. If Sailor Moon were standing here right at this moment telling them the same thing Pluto was explaining, they'd probably believe her just on faith. It was as much a testament to the loneliness and outsider nature of being an Outer Senshi as it was to the fame and the innate charm of Sailor Moon. That outsider nature allowed them to do things and go places that the Inners couldn't dream of, but this was its price: suspicion, doubt and a general lack of gratitude. Uranus knew that, and she accepted it - - or so she thought. But every so often, like in situations such as this, the inequity of it all just galled her.

"The woman was possessed," Detective Yomiyuri repeated, "by aliens?"

"And she is not the only one," Pluto continued. "We have knowledge of one other victim, a Miroku-San whose desiccated body you have no doubt already found in an empty home near Akasaka. There are three other living humans involved, to our knowledge. They are alive as far as we know, but all three are controlled by parasites." She stared down gravely at the detective. "That is assuming that their bodies have not already been consumed and left to rot while the parasites have infested three new victims. The process of consumption seems to last from four to seven days, but I cannot be certain of this."

"How did you know about the body in the empty house?" Yomiyuri asked sharply.

"We found it while trailing the parasites," Neptune interjected, leaving Elza to enter the conversation. "I'm the one who phoned the police."

Yomiyuri looked Neptune up and down suspiciously. "Fine, we'll get back to that later. You three fit the description of three people who broke into an apartment building . . ."

"We freely admit that, Yomiyuri-San," Pluto stated. "It was necessary in order to rescue Gray-San there."

"From the aliens?" Yomiyuri asked.

"The parasite that had control of Noriko was trying to kidnap her," Neptune said, her vaunted control slipping some, "to use her as a host for one of the other parasites."

"Gray-San can corroborate that?"

"When she's able," Neptune replied with an undercurrent of warning. Her tone didn't set too well with Yomiyuri or the support officers.

"Does your admission that you three were there constitute an admission that you were also responsible for an attack on two responding Tokyo police officers?" Yomiyuri asked. Uranus could see Neptune shrink into herself a little.

"I apologize for that," Neptune responded, scowling at herself. "I was trying to protect Elza - - Gray-San - - and find a way to free Abe-San from the influence of the parasite. We didn't have time to answer a lot of questions or endure a lot of police procedures. However, I clearly overreacted to the situation and shouldn't have responded the way that I did."

"That's a very gratifying response," Yomiyuri said. "It doesn't mitigate what was done. Sailor Neptune, I am placing you under arrest on the charge of . . ." It was all he got out before Uranus injected herself between them.

"Don't even think about it," Uranus rumbled.

"Uranus," Neptune began, grasping the senshi's trailing forearm. "Please don't make this situation . . ."

"I will advise you not to interfere," Yomiyuri warned Uranus. He started forward to press the issue. The two uniformed officers moved with him.

Uranus responded by shoving the detective away. He stumbled back into the two officers and the three struggled to keep their balance. Grasping Neptune by the hand, Uranus pushed past the security guards standing, staring in surprise, and marched down the corridor.

"Uranus!" Neptune hissed.

"Stop!" Yomiyuri yelled after them.

"They're not putting you in jail," Uranus declared. She kept walking and tugging Neptune behind her.

"You are only making this worse!" Yomiyuri yelled.

"GET BENT!" Uranus flung over her shoulder. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO DANCE WITH A BUNCH OF STUFFED SHIRT BUREAUCRATS! THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING OUT THERE AND WE'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING!"

"DON'T MAKE US USE FORCE TO PLACE YOU UNDER ARREST!" Yomiyuri yelled back. The two officers began to pursue them down the corridor.

Angrily, Uranus whirled on them, releasing Neptune's hand. Her own hand came up above her head, the hand glowing with energy as geological force collected in her palm. Pluto's eyes grew wide and she moved to interject herself between Uranus and the nursing desk.

Their safety and the safety of civilians threatened, the two officers drew their service pistols. Three shots fired. One clipped Uranus across the shoulder, one went wide, and the third struck her in the throat. The senshi was thrown back several inches, then toppled to the ground as the horrified shrieks of Sailor Neptune echoed through the corridor and into the connected treatment rooms.

Continued in Chapter 6


	6. Missing In Action

THE PATH ONCE TRAVELED

Chapter 6: "Missing In Action"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

"Uranus!" Pluto shouted in alarm. She started forward, but one of the officers whirled on her.

"DON'T MOVE!" he commanded. Staring down the barrel of the officer's service pistol, Pluto stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly she held her hands out from her sides, her fingers coming away from her Time Staff until only two fingers held it.

"HARUKA!" Neptune shrieked, cradling Sailor Uranus in her lap. Blood bubbled from the wound in her throat. Uranus wore an expression of startled surprise and confusion.

People came out of the various treatment cubicles, wondering what had happened. When one of the doctors saw Uranus on the floor, he ran over and knelt opposite Neptune. A cursory examination was all he needed.

"I need some pressure bandages!" the doctor ordered. A nurse scrambled to retrieve them. "Get one of those gurneys out here! Get a room ready and an emergency cart!"

Uranus looked up to Neptune. They locked eyes for a moment. And then her eyes glazed over and became fixed.

"CODE BLUE!" the doctor roared. A wheeled bed appeared and Uranus was lifted onto it. The nurse applied pressure bandages to her throat while the doctor began cardiac chest massage, all while the bed was being wheeled into one of the emergency cubicles. Neptune tried to follow, but the detective and one of the uniformed officers held her back. Neptune struggled to get free, staring after Uranus as she and the attending doctors disappeared into one of the rooms.

"No," Neptune whispered, tears streaming down her face and emotion stealing her voice. As handcuffs closed around her wrists, the strength left her legs and Neptune sank to her knees. The police were saying something to her, but all she could concentrate on was the emergency cubicle Uranus was in and the glassy expression of death that was her last image of the love of her life.

Neptune was brought to her feet by the police. She and Pluto were led off. As they walked out the door, they walked past the nursing station where Elza stood, wide-eyed and her hands to her mouth. If it weren't for Noriko still being treated in one of the adjoining rooms, Elza would have gone after them.

But she couldn't leave Noriko. More tears sprouted. And just when Elza thought she didn't have any left to shed.

* * *

Detective Yomiyuri entered the interrogation room where Sailor Neptune sat. The senshi's hands were still cuffed behind her. She didn't move. She didn't look up when he entered. She just stared at the table with the most piteous expression of forlorn shock that the veteran police officer could recall seeing in a while. Obviously this senshi and the other one had been close, a lot closer than just fighting comrades. Next to Neptune was a public defender. Yomiyuri had called him to protect the department as well as Neptune's rights. He took a chair opposite her.

"First," he began, "let me express the department's sympathy for your loss."

Neptune didn't respond.

"The officers felt their safety and the safety of civilians was being threatened by the actions of your partner, Sailor - - Uranus, was it? The incident was - - regrettable, but necessary."

Neptune still didn't respond. But Yomiyuri noticed a tear trickle down her cheek.

"You're charged with battery on a police officer," Yomiyuri told her.

"That confession entered into evidence was made before the defendant was instructed on her rights," the attorney piped up. "I wouldn't count on it making your case."

"It was freely given, without coercion," Yomiyuri argued. "Don't split hairs."

"I'm just looking out for the rights . . ."

"None of that matters," they heard Neptune mumble. Both men became quiet and looked at her. "Don't you people understand?" Neptune continued, still staring down at the table. "The population of this city is being directly threatened."

"So you say," Yomiyuri countered. "Your 'alien parasites' taking people over? It sounds like a bad horror film."

"Have you publicized the shooting?" Neptune asked. Her voice was low and haunted.

"Some word has gotten out about the incident," Yomiyuri answered. "We've kept a lid on the specifics for now - - pending investigation."

"Keep it that way," Neptune said. The men both looked at her curiously. "No one must know. Not until we find a way to stop them. They can't find out that you killed the only person on the planet capable of harming them."

Yomiyuri swallowed. "Exactly what are we supposed to be dealing with here? Where are these 'aliens' from? What do they look like?"

But Neptune remained silent and stared at the table.

Yomiyuri sighed in frustration. "Maybe we'd better call Sailor Moon in on this . . ."

"NO!" Neptune barked, swiftly and urgently. She stared up at the detective with commanding eyes and a hard mouth. "She can't be involved in this! If one of those creatures was to somehow gain control of her - - it could be the end of everything! Leave her out of this!"

"So we're just supposed to let YOU go to deal with it?" Yomiyuri asked skeptically. Neptune returned to looking at the table.

"I don't have anything more to say," Neptune replied, a tint of bitterness in her voice. "Not to you."

All further questions were met with a stubborn, stony silence. Finally giving up, Yomiyuri had Neptune escorted back to her cell. There she was freed from her handcuffs and left alone. Once alone, Neptune curled up into a fetal ball in the corner of the room and began weeping.

Time passed. Tears dried. Neptune's mind struggled to stay focused. She knew it was essential to stay focused on the problem at hand. At least three alien parasites were loose in the city. They had three innocent victims now. Who knew how many others they'd used and discarded before they'd been discovered? Who knew how soon they would have to discard their present host and seek out new prey? Who knew if they were even still in the city? The destruction of the alien holding Noriko may have sent them fleeing to the countryside or to another city in Japan. Maybe they'd even fled to another country. If that happened, the chances of finding them and stopping them were remote at best. No, the sooner they were found and eradicated, the better. She had to think of a way, first to find them and then to eradicate them. And to do that, Neptune knew she had to concentrate.

But it was hard. Her physical and mental energy was being sucked down a cavernous hole inside of her. All she seemed to be able to think of was Haruka's head laying in her lap, her blood staining Neptune's green skirt. All she could see was the helpless look on her lover's face, staring up at Neptune as the woman's life faded away. What was she going to do? How was she going to go on? Haruka was her rock of strength, her backbone, the security that allowed her to be controlled and decisive. Haruka was her muse, her joy, her passion, everything about life that was new and different and exciting. How was she supposed to live without that now? How was she supposed to function under the weight of the overbearing sorrow she felt?

"Sailor Neptune?"

Neptune looked up from her spot in the corner of the cell. A woman stood in front of the cell bars. She was in her late thirties and had long black hair pinned up behind her. Sporty bangs dangled into eyes that were at once business-like and mischievous. Her figure was slim, but the artist in Neptune noticed her posture was of someone powerful and used to commanding. She wore a dark blue bolero jacket, long-sleeved for the season, over a beige blouse unbuttoned at the neck. A designer Gucci silver clasp connected the jacket, while a short, tight blue skirt covered her below the waist. Black hose and blue high heels completed the ensemble. To the artist in Neptune, she seemed like a frustrated aspiring starlet forced to conform to the more conservative demands of the justice system. However, something about her posture warned Neptune not to underestimate her.

"I understand there are dangerous aliens running around Tokyo?" the woman queried. She stared directly at Neptune, expecting a response.

"And you are?" Neptune replied, lowering her gaze back into the pool of sorrow she was drowning in.

"Metropolitan Police Board Superintendent-General Natsuna Sakurada," the woman replied. Neptune looked up. Sakurada was expecting her title to carry some weight.

"So you run this place?" Neptune exhaled.

"This district, yes," Sakurada said. "How much danger are we in?"

"Have you seen the report on the desiccated body in the house near Akasaka?"

"Yes. I've also seen the coroner's report. The body had every spec of fluid and mineral composition drained out of it."

"Have you found any others like it?"

"No. That's why it's been difficult to believe the warnings you've been giving," Sakurada told her. Then the woman nodded to a jail attendant. A key turned in the lock and the cell door opened.

"I'm released?" Neptune asked.

"Someone has to deal with this before we end up with more corpses like the one in the morgue," Sakurada responded.

"I thought my story was 'difficult to believe'."

"I've been at my job for a while," Sakurada explained. "I've seen things that force me to consider the unbelievable possible. I admit - - reluctantly - - that my force isn't equipped to handle such things. Situations like this is why you Sailor Senshi exist. I've learned the prudent thing is to get out of your way and minimize the collateral damage."

Neptune climbed to her feet and trudged to the door. She didn't want to move. She really didn't want to do anything. But she knew she had to. At the door, though, Sakurada stepped into her path.

"Before you go - - I don't like my officers being attacked," Sakurada told Neptune. Her manner was calm and commanding, backed by a steely resolve and a driving desire to protect what's right. Neptune could respect the demeanor. "And I don't like vigilante attitudes. Just because I step aside, don't assume that you're entitled to it. We're willing to work with you. Don't expect us to be subservient to you."

"If you don't trust me, Superintendent-General, perhaps you should keep me locked up," Neptune answered.

"There are over-riding concerns," Sakurada responded. "Besides, I called Sailor Venus. She vouched for you."

Sakurada stepped aside. Neptune walked out of the cell and waited by the attendant to be led out.

"You're benefitting from some of the good will built up with me and my department by Sailor V," Sakurada warned Neptune. "Don't abuse it. And I would appreciate being kept informed on what progress you make." She handed Neptune a business card. "Call me at any hour."

"When I get some information," Neptune said, accepting the card, "I will."

Neptune started to turn away, but Sakurada's hand touched her forearm. The senshi turned back.

"And my condolences for your loss," Sakurada said. Neptune felt her eyes welling again and merely nodded.

"I have to call Ryoko and thank her for vouching for me," Neptune murmured as she was led out. She hadn't thought Sailor Venus possessed that much respect for her.

After processing, Sailor Neptune was released into a corridor in the back of the police station. Sailor Pluto was there waiting for her.

"Pluto?" Neptune asked. "They're letting you go, too?"

"I have been free for some time. There was nothing to charge me with. I have been endeavoring to secure your release," Pluto informed her. "It was during those efforts that I was contacted by Superintendent-General Sakurada." Pluto's expression softened. "Are you well?"

"No," Neptune replied, "but I'm functional."

"I miss her as well," Pluto told her.

"Any leads on the aliens?" Neptune changed the subject.

"None," Pluto said. "And I can think of only one possible lead at this time."

"Which is?"

"Noriko Abe," Pluto responded.

Neptune scowled. "I hate involving Elza and Noriko anymore than they already have been. But we really don't have a choice, do we?"

Allowing their forms to fade back to Michiru and Setsuna to avoid attention, the two women went down to the underground parking garage beneath the police station. Michiru walked silently, absently, beside Setsuna, until she realized what they were approaching: Haruka's blue Fiat.

"Michiru?" Pluto asked, realizing Michiru had stopped in her tracks. "I apologize. It was the only vehicle I had access to."

"I-I understand," Michiru choked out. She took another step and then stopped. "Maybe you better drive. I don't think I can - - sit in her seat just yet."

Elza was sitting beside Noriko's hospital bed, hunched over, wringing her hands and staring like she was afraid every moment she spent with Noriko would be her last.

Michiru could relate. When Elza realized they were there, she sprang up from her chair and raced across the room to Michiru.

"Oh my God, Michiru," Elza whimpered, capturing the woman in a hug. "I am so sorry for what happened to Haruka!"

"Thank you," Michiru forced herself to say. As she did, she gently pried Elza off of her. "But there are more important things at the moment." Elza seemed confused, even a little hurt by Michiru's distance. The artist told herself it couldn't be helped. "How is Noriko?"

"The doctors are hopeful she'll pull through," Elza said, whispering so as not to jinx things. "There isn't any paralysis. There's some loss of muscle mass. They say they can help that." Elza's mouth quivered for a moment, then she bit down hard to regain control. "They're hopeful that - - that she doesn't have brain damage." Her mouth quivered again. "But it's too soon to tell."

Elza felt something surround her and realized it was Michiru. She accepted the solace gratefully.

"Elza," Michiru said finally, "there is another reason why we're here."

Elza looked at her anxiously.

"Noriko is the only line we have to tracking these things down," Michiru told her. Elza looked down, a new burden threatening to crush her. "I promise we won't hurt her."

"Go ahead. How much more could you do that hasn't already been done to her?" Elza whimpered.

Taking that as her cue, Setsuna transformed into Sailor Pluto. Holding the Time Staff parallel to her, Pluto allowed her head to roll back. Her eyes closed. Instantly the Garnet Orb became iridescent, bathing the room in an unearthly reddish light. Elza, already having experienced more these past few days than anyone could expect to experience, clung to Michiru.

The Garnet Orb detached from the Time Staff and hovered in front of its master, lighting the woman's face in eerie red and black hues. Pluto's mouth began to move, though no words came from her. Occasionally shadows would pass across her face, even though there was nothing in the room to make them. Noriko rested in her bed, undisturbed by events. Her vital sign monitors were a speck of green in a sea of red.

"What's she doing?" Elza whispered.

"Trying to find the aliens," Michiru told her.

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Michiru," Elza said, glancing back at the woman. "There's so much about you that I don't understand anymore. How do you cope with all of this?"

"Because it's necessary," Michiru responded. The heartache was starting again. She could feel it.

Pluto's expression was becoming more and more strained. Her eyes danced violently beneath her eyelids. Occasionally her mouth would pull back, revealing clenched white teeth. Tension filled her tall frame. Her brow was pulled together, distorted by the tension that filled her body. Out of nowhere, Pluto sucked in a huge breath of air and Michiru feared the woman would collapse under the strain.

And then she did, sinking to her knees. Michiru and Elza rushed over and supported her so she didn't strike her head on the floor. The Garnet Orb leisurely floated back to its spot on the Time Staff.

"Pluto?" Michiru inquired, supporting Pluto's head. "What happened?"

"What," gasped Pluto, "has not happened?"

"I don't understand."

"Forgive me," Pluto wheezed. "I have been searching - - what was - - in Abe-San's life. It is - - disconcerting. I have not yet learned to sort through the - - avalanche of images - - efficiently." Pluto took a steadying breath. "I have learned where the aliens were when last Abe-San saw them."

"Then let's go," Michiru pronounced. She waited only long enough for Pluto to regain enough energy and coherence to stand. As they left, though, Elza reached out suddenly and grasped Michiru's hand.

"Be careful, Michiru," Elza pleaded, "please. We've all lost enough."

Michiru smiled shyly and nodded.

Continued in Chapter 7


	7. Missing You

THE PATH ONCE TRAVELED

Chapter 7: "Missing You"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Haruka's blue Fiat sports car roared through the late evening. But Haruka was not at the wheel. Setsuna was. Michiru occupied her familiar spot on the passenger's side and looked anywhere but at the driver. For seeing Setsuna driving was one more reminder that Haruka was gone from her side, gone for the rest of her life. She had enough reminders of that sad fact. She didn't need another one. It was nothing personal against Setsuna.

"Setsuna," Michiru whispered as she deliberately didn't look the woman's way. "I apologize - - if I've inadvertently insulted you."

"You have not," Setsuna replied, glancing over at her partner. Michiru was avoiding her gaze. It was sad, but understandable.

"That's good," Michiru whispered.

It was good. So much of Michiru's life since that fateful, fatal moment, seemed distant and dream-like. Time blurred to her. She ate unenthusiastically. She slept fitfully. She hadn't once had the urge to create either art or music. Her concentration on the problem at hand was forced and uneven. She went through the motions. If it wasn't for the involvement of Elza and the encouragement of Setsuna, she might just let the problem of the alien parasites go. Michiru knew that was the wrong thing to do, to give in and stop caring. But so much of her wanted to.

"I can continue on alone," Setsuna spoke up, "if you are not up to this fight."

Michiru uttered a deep sigh of emotional fatigue.

"No," Michiru wheezed. "I'll do my duty." She paused for a few moments, reflecting on the prospects of her life. "Do you remember last spring, when I was laid up with that alien bacteria? When I was the one dying?"

"I do," Setsuna replied.

"Haruka was such a mess. She vowed to follow me if I died. I made her promise to keep living. I made her promise to carry on for the both of us in my stead." The tears were welling again. "That was so selfish of me."

"I disagree," Setsuna said.

"You only say that because you're not going through what she went through," Michiru countered. "What I'm going through right now. Have you ever had anyone in your life as important to you as life itself?"

"I confess," Setsuna replied, searching for the proper response, "I have not felt for anyone what you felt for Haruka. Still, I would say to you that your demand on Haruka was not selfish or incorrect."

"Why?" Michiru asked. "There's no sun in my life now. There's no joy. There's no purpose. Why go on?""

"You are blinded by grief, my friend. The sun still shines. You just no longer see it. There is still joy and purpose in the world. Just because it is not what you are used to does not mean it no longer exists. Once your legitimate grief allows you to see again, it will be there if you look for it."

"It's not Haruka," Michiru murmured.

"No, it will not be Haruka. Perhaps you will never again capture the heights of joy you experienced with Haruka. But joy will always be there for you to find - - if you are only there to find it. And if you quit and leave us, you will be depriving the world of you. And that, my friend, is when you would become selfish."

The Fiat continued down the freeway. It exited the Tokyo city limits. Finally, Michiru noticed.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Yokohama," Setsuna told her.

"They fled Tokyo?"

"Our efforts have caused them to relocate. In examining Abe-San's past, I witnessed the final meeting between her and the other three hosts. Their intent was to relocate to Yokohama and secure other victims. These people would be held captive until the parasites needed a new host. Abe-San tried to abduct Gray-San because their thinking was her relationship with Gray-San would allow her to get close enough to overcome Gray-San with little resistance."

"Fortunately for her, and us, Elza's athletic ability allowed her to fight back long enough," Michiru mused. "And her prior relationship with me gave us access to this plot." Michiru was silent for a moment. "Thank the gods that something good has come out of all of this."

And the Fiat roared south to Yokohama.

The Fiat parked down the street from a normal residential home just east of the Yokohama business and entertainment district. It seemed normal in every way. But Michiru couldn't contain a fleeting sense of deja vu.

"This set up seems remarkably like the one in Akasaka," Michiru remarked. The two women observed the home from the Fiat.

"Creatures on an unfamiliar planet would naturally repeat familiar processes," Setsuna rationalized. "Perhaps this method of operating most resembles what they know from their planet of origin."

Michiru noticed the henshin stick appear in Setsuna's hand.

"The direct approach?" she questioned.

"We must assume that they have the house monitored in some fashion," Setsuna explained. "Or we must assume they are able to detect our presence. They may be already aware of our intentions. I do not think it wise to give them time and opportunity to flee while we exercise caution. There is no guarantee we will be able to find them again should they escape us here." Her grip tightened on the henshin stick. "Pluto Planet Power Make Up!"

Pluto's transformation gave Michiru little choice but to follow. Still, as she transformed, Pluto's reasoning made sense. If only the sight of two Sailor Senshi didn't elicit interference from the local population, the plan had a reasonable chance for success.

The pair exited the Fiat and sprinted across the street. They gained the porch with no interference, though there were several cries of surprise and excitement when the neighbors saw them. They raced right up to the front door and stopped.

"Dead Scream," Pluto said, aiming the Time Staff at the front door.

The door exploded inward when struck by the attack. Pluto plunged in after it. Neptune was close on her heels, the Deep Aqua Mirror out and her head on a swivel to look for ambush or attack. The front room, though, was empty. It was furnished with modern, well-cared for pieces that, until recently in Neptune's eyes, had been used by a typical middle-class Japanese family. But there was subtle evidence that the family had been missing from this middle-class scene for several days.

"The basement!" Neptune barked to Pluto. "That's where they were in the last house!"

Pluto nodded. They moved to the stairs and flipped on the light. Each senshi heard soft moans coming from the lower floor. Descending the stairs warily, their talisman weapons at ready, the two senshi gained the bottom floor and turned.

"Help us! Please!" a child cried out.

Chained to the far wall of the basement were a young man and woman, as well as two children. The boy looked about fourteen and the girl maybe twelve. Their clothes were dingy and soiled. They cowered in shock and terror amid empty bowls that had contained their food. There was an odor of urine and feces in the lower level. The four, probably the residents of the home, were kept penned like animals in a slaughterhouse. Neptune and Pluto stared with amazement. The young girl was about to cry out again, but a movement to her left silenced her.

Out of the shadows from beneath the stairway came a man. He was a typical Japanese entry-level manager: thin, with close-cropped hair and thick black frame glasses, a serious disposition and the regulation suit and tie. You could walk into any Japanese corporation in the country and find his type, buzzing around like a drone, eager to gain favor with his superiors, sacrificing his present for the promise of a lucrative tomorrow. But there were subtle differences. When he moved further into the light, the senshi could see the withering in his skin and the lines that didn't belong on his face. They could see the dull look to his eyes, as if he was a prisoner in his own body.

They also noticed the gunmetal gray .32 automatic leveled at them.

"So you followed us here," the man snarled, his voice hoarse and raspy like Noriko's had been. "You won't leave us alone! We just want to survive!"

"Survive on your own planet," Neptune said with stony indifference.

"Don't you think we would if we could?" he cried. "Our planet is gone! We were attacked by the Denogan Empire! They slaughtered our race and reduced our planet to cinders! We have no home to go back to!"

"We might be more inclined to sympathy," Pluto responded, "were we not witness to that." She nodded to the unfortunates chained to the wall.

"We do what we have to in order to survive," came another voice. Emerging from the shadows was a woman. She was in her forties and seemed well to do. Though Japanese, her hair was dyed reddish-brown and piled atop her head in a stylized up-sweep that had seen better days. Her squat, pudgy frame was pushed into an expensive blue dress designed for a younger, smaller woman. A flashy jeweled necklace was around her throat, diamond earrings dangled from her lobes and gold rings adorned half of her pudgy fingers. But the hair was streaked with gray, the skin was baggy from weight loss and leathery, and her eyes were dull. She, too, held a gun in her hand, this one a nickle-plated, snub-nose .30 revolver.

"That's not going to excuse this, either," Neptune replied. She saw one more person emerge from hiding: A uniformed delivery man in his late twenties. All three were probably abducted from Akasaka or Odaibi, and all three were alien hosts. Judging from the wear on their faces, all three were in various stages of physical distress or decay.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" barked the stout woman. "I'm not interested in arguing with food! Lay down your weapons and get over against that wall!"

Pluto glanced at Neptune for some cue as to her mind-set. Neptune had the same stony glare, a glare that was at one moment eerily similar to the glares Haruka once produced.

"So you can consume us?" Neptune said through clenched teeth. The captive family whimpered. "So there will be nothing to stop you from using this entire planet as your personal buffet?"

"You think I won't do it?" the stout woman snapped back. "This weapon of your kind is very efficient at what it does. I don't think you can resist it or avoid it. Comply or be destroyed."

"Send me to Hell? " Neptune growled, naked fury taking over her being. She kept the Deep Aqua Mirror firmly aimed at them. "Let's go together."

"Don't!" the man shouted. His gun whirled on the captive family. "If your life doesn't mean anything to you, maybe theirs do! Now lay down your weapons or I fire on them!" More whimpers of terror escaped the captives.

"And what would you then do for hosts?" Pluto inquired.

The three alien hosts glared angrily at her.

"It is obvious that you are using up the life forces of your current hosts," Pluto continued. "It necessitated the capture of this family, so they would be readily accessible."

"Don't be too sure we just don't like having a stable food supply," the delivery man piped up.

"The evidence is clear in the physical conditions of your current hosts," Pluto argued. "You will not harm that which you so clearly and so desperately need."

"If you make it necessary to kill them," the stout woman sneered, "we'll just get more. This planet is teeming with hosts. Now put down your weapons!"

"So you can continue?" Neptune snarled. "You're already responsible for two deaths. Noriko will never be the same because of you, and Elza because of that. Not to mention all the misery you've visited on these poor people and the people you took as hosts and their families and loved ones! And you want me to let you continue?"

And in that moment, the being using the stout woman as a host foresaw a premonition of its own death. A pudgy finger squeezed a trigger.

"SUBMARINE REFLECTION!" Neptune cried out angrily. A crimson beam of light lanced out from her Deep Aqua Mirror and struck the stout woman chest high. A cry of agony rose from her throat, but was strangled. Thrown upward, the gun discharged into the ceiling above them. The beam burned through her chest and out the other side amid shrieks of horror from host and captive alike.

The stout woman toppled to the ground backwards as the young manager swung his pistol around. He was about to fire on Neptune, but Pluto acted first.

"Dead Scream," she said. The sonic blast slammed into the young manager, lifting him off his feet and tossing him aside to land hard on the cement floor. The automatic struck the floor, fired wildly, and skittered into the shadows. Pluto whirled on the other host and fired another sonic shot. It slammed him against the wall and he fell, unconscious.

Pluto turned and found Neptune standing over the body of the stout woman. Looking at the face, she saw one of the parasites emerging from the nose.

"Submarine Reflection," Neptune said coldly. The beam shot out and cut the parasite in two, as well as gashing an ugly cut on the face of the corpse.

Then she turned to the other two.

"Neptune, hold," Pluto said, grabbing Neptune by the arm. "Do you plan to murder them in cold blood in order to eradicate the aliens?"

"Do you have a better way?" Neptune asked, her steely gaze boring holes in her fighting partner. Pluto didn't respond immediately, but it was clear she opposed Neptune's plan. "Look at them, Pluto. They're going to be dead in a day tops. Do you have a way to get those parasites out of them? A way that won't kill them in the process or destroy most of their brain? Haruka could do it - - BUT HARUKA'S DEAD!" Neptune took a moment to suppress her emotions. "And so are they, practically. At least this way, they won't suffer anymore."

"I," Pluto began, but halted. "It is not - - I cannot - - help but think that perhaps - - perhaps The Princess . . ."

"Maybe Sailor Moon could do it," Neptune replied, "maybe. But if she can't, she'd be too weak to allow what would have to be done. And we'd be exposing her to possible contamination by one of them. Do you want to risk that? Because you know there's no way anyone could stop Sailor Moon if one of them took her over. And you know we can't allow these things to escape again!"

Pluto stood helplessly. She wanted to find a way to disagree with Neptune, because she couldn't help but wonder if, in addition to every motivation Neptune had given for her intentions, perhaps vengeance was also a motivating factor. But the longer she went without coming up with a solution, the more she wondered if perhaps Neptune was right.

"I'll do it," Neptune said, tiring of waiting. "I've got nothing left to live for. It doesn't matter if I do it."

Without another word, Neptune turned to the unconscious host laying on the floor. Her mirror came up, ready to kill, for the only way she knew to get the parasite to leave was to kill the host. To their amazement, though, the host struggled to rise from the concrete basement floor. He was still unconscious, so his shambling, uncoordinated actions had to be the parasite within him trying to marshal its host to escape. Mercilessly Sailor Neptune cut him down with her Submarine Reflection, then sliced up the parasite when it attempted to escape its dead host.

That done, she turned to the manager. He was on his knees, feeling around blindly for the pistol, his eyes closed. Grimacing, Sailor Pluto turned away and walked to the captives chained to the wall. The sound of Submarine Reflection echoed behind her. As she approached, the captive family cowered in her presence. She could see they were scared, traumatized by their experience and by all they had heard and witnessed. But she could also see that Neptune's actions had planted wariness and doubt within them, too.

"Do not fear," Pluto tried to calm them. "We mean you no harm."

Pluto looked around, but found no key for the locks on the chains. With no alternative, she pulled her tiara from her forehead and reached for one of the chains. The teenage boy locked in them flinched back. Undaunted, Pluto seized the chain and wedged the tiara into a link. With some effort, she pried the link open and freed the young teen.

The process repeated with the other three captives. The adults were only slightly less fearful of them than the children were. All the while, Pluto tried to talk calmly to them, to reassure them of her good intentions. At one point she glanced back at Neptune. Her senshi partner just stood, her back to the three dead hosts, staring mutely into the basement shadows.

When the prisoners were freed, Pluto came over and touched Neptune's shoulder. The senshi looked up at Pluto, then without a word began to ascend the stairs. With an uncertain glance back at the four captives, huddled together for solace, Pluto followed. They reached the battered in door and emerged into the world.

Four police officers were waiting for them. They drew their pistols and aimed at the two senshi.

"Kneel down on the porch, hands locked behind your head!" commanded one of the police officers.

Neptune complied immediately. Pluto glanced at her and saw the emotionless state she was in, then followed suit. The police quickly moved in to handcuff the two senshi. Once secured, they were led to one of the police cars.

"I did everything," Neptune said suddenly, but still with an eerie emotionlessness. "There's four people in the basement that are going to need medical help. There are also three bodies." The police glanced at each other in amazement. "I did it all. Pluto had nothing to do with it."

"Did what?" one of the officers asked her. "You said there were bodies in there. Are you saying you're responsible for that?"

"I did it all," Neptune repeated. Pluto could see that her friend had as tight a rein on her emotions as she could ever recall witnessing.

No sooner had they been seated than Pluto felt her senshi communicator signal. Twisting around, she looked at the face and saw Luna was calling. Whatever the Inners wanted at the moment was going to have to wait.

Continued in Chapter 8


	8. Missing Moments

THE PATH ONCE TRAVELED

Chapter 8: "Missing Moments"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

The Yokohama City Jail personnel had never experienced the famous Sailor Senshi before. They certainly had never had occasion to house one of them. And yet here were two sitting in lock up, albeit two of the least recognizable senshi. Unlike the Tokyo jails, no provisions were available to keep the two senshi housed separately. Thus, as they awaited arraignment, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Pluto shared a cell.

Pluto fiddled with her senshi communicator. She had received a call from Luna earlier concerning something. At the time, she couldn't answer. Now it was Luna who wouldn't - - or couldn't answer. Pluto pondered the meaning of this with growing anxiety.

"Perhaps they are out of communicator range," Pluto mused out loud.

"What?" Neptune asked. She had been silent and morose the entire trip to the City Jail, through booking and the gauntlet of the press.

"Luna attempted to contact us earlier," Pluto told her. "I was unable to answer due to - - our unfortunate circumstances. I attempted to contact her just now and there is no answer. Perhaps they are now out of range of the communicators."

"Or maybe they don't want anything to do with us anymore," Neptune offered with fatalistic humor. "I imagine the story is all over Japan by now. You'd have to be on a mountain not to know what happened."

"Indeed," Pluto nodded.

"I'm sorry for involving you in this," Neptune said. "I've tried to exonerate you whenever I can."

"I bear you no ill," Pluto replied. "You did what you thought necessary for the benefit and welfare of all. It is - - regrettable that it turned out this way."

"Regrettable," Neptune repeated. "It doesn't seem to be a strong enough term for what actually happened."

The sound of high heels clicking on linoleum attracted the attention of the two senshi. They looked to the door of the cell. One of the guards appeared at the door of the cell. Quickly they saw he was accompanying someone.

"Superintendent-General Sakurada," Neptune said neutrally. Pluto could see the police official wasn't happy and she was certain Neptune could see it, too.

"This is how you handle a situation?" Sakura demanded.

"The aliens are dead," was Neptune's only reply.

"We know. We found the bodies. The federal government is coming to claim them," Sakurada informed her. "We also have three dead innocent victims and testimony from witnesses that say you executed them."

"That's not true," Neptune said unemotionally. "One of them was self-defense."

"Superintendent-General," Pluto interjected, "it was our opinion . . ."

"MY opinion," Neptune interrupted.

"That to eliminate the aliens as soon as possible was necessary from a public safety standpoint," Pluto continued. "Unfortunately it meant the tragic deaths of their hosts."

"Well I'm glad you two think it's tragic," Sakurada snapped. "On that point, you happen to be in agreement with a great many people - - particularly the families of those three dead victims. I don't suppose it occurred to you to merely capture them for scientific study?"

"Do you think modern science could have found a way to safely extract those parasites in a day?" Neptune asked.

"You don't know that they only had a day," Sakurada contended.

"They were desperate to retain new hosts," Pluto outlined. "Combine that with the obvious physical stress the hosts were exhibiting and it is not an unreasonable conclusion."

"So you executed them," Sakurada said.

"Yes," scowled Neptune. "I executed them. I took three lives to spare six billion. It was the only action I felt I could take to keep the death toll the lowest. And I am solely responsible for that decision. Pluto had nothing to do with it. She was against it from the start."

Sakurada stared at her, still frowning. Neptune refused to acknowledge her.

"Being a police officer," she began, "I can understand that kind of thinking - - taking a life to spare the lives of innocents. But as a police officer, I also understand that if my actions result in the deaths of innocents, I can be held accountable for those actions."

"I'm perfectly willing to accept the consequences of my actions," Neptune stated.

"Even if it means prison?" Sakurada asked. "Because judging by the initial public reaction to this incident, I can almost guarantee it."

"Superintendent-General," Neptune began, looking up at her with eyes red and clouded by heartache, "there's no place you or anyone else could put me in that's worse than where I am now."

Sakurada stared silently and Pluto detected a sense of loss in the police official. Finally Sakurada turned to the jail guard and handed him a folded paper.

"This is a warrant for the release of Sailor Pluto," Sakurada told him. "Based on testimony from witnesses at the scene, all charges against her have been dropped.."

The guard gestured to Pluto and she rose from her seat. But then the senshi paused and turned back to Neptune.

"Go ahead," Neptune said softly.

Reluctantly, Pluto exited the cell. Sakurada walked off. Pluto started to follow, but turned back

"I will return with legal assistance," Pluto told her.

"As you wish," Neptune said unenthusiastically. Pluto grimaced.

"This does not have to be the end," she told Neptune.

"I think it does," Neptune countered. "Looking back over the last few days, there's so many things I'd do over if I could. Looking back over my career, there's been an arrogance to me and I think that arrogance has finally caught up to me. Maybe it's better that this is the end. I certainly don't have the stomach to continue this fight. Not without Haruka."

Pluto stared at her helplessly.

"You go ahead," Neptune told her. "Join up with the Inners. Sailor Moon has always been important to you. Protect her. Make her dream come true."

"Is there anything else I may get you?" Pluto asked.

Neptune smiled suddenly, the first smile Pluto had seen on her friend in a long time.

"Canvas," Neptune said, "and some paint. I've realized that I have one more mission on this world. I have the rest of my life to make sure that the world never, ever forgets who Haruka Tenoh was or what she looked like." Neptune dabbed tears from her eyes. "And I want to get her down on canvas," and her lip trembled slightly, "before my memory of her starts to blur and fade."

"I shall go immediately," Pluto nodded, "my friend."

It was the last thing she remembered saying.

* * *

Setsuna Meioh's eyes shot open. She was in the guest room that Michiru had provided. She sat, cross-legged, on the bed and had been meditating. Her hand came up and rubbed her temple.

"I must have fallen asleep," Setsuna whispered to herself, for she was often her best counsel. The woman glanced over at the clock on the night stand. The numerals went from midnight to twelve-oh-one. "Wait," she mused. "This is not right. I was in Yokohama."

Climbing off the bed, Setsuna picked up a robe that Michiru had provided and donned it. The robe was slightly too short for her, owing entirely to her unusual height, but Setsuna didn't give it a second notice. Tying the sash, she ventured out of the bedroom and into the house. Her feet padded silently on the floor and her green-black hair, bereft of the ball knot that usually held it up, swayed slightly behind her and tickled the floor boards.

Silently, she exited the home and stopped on the back porch. The night air was chill, but she didn't notice because of the overwhelming sense of deja vu. Then she looked down. Haruka sat on the step and stared out at the yard, whole and alive. An utter sense of joy flooded over Setsuna, coupled with a dizzying confusion. Haruka, alive? How was it possible? She looked up into the night sky and stared at the stars. Her disorientation passed and she realized through some inner sense that she didn't understand that this was suddenly days ago. Somehow time had shifted and what had been her present in Yokohama was now her past in Tokyo. Though she knew it was something other than a divine act, there was a sense in Setsuna that wouldn't go away, that being that she'd just experienced a miracle.

Finally, after a period of time neither noticed, Haruka stood up and turned to go inside.

"Setsuna?" she exclaimed, startled by what she found behind her. "What are you doing out here?"

Setsuna didn't reply at first. She only stared up at the stars. Curious, Haruka looked to see what their guest was staring at, but could see nothing unusual. The sandy blonde turned back to Setsuna.

"Something has happened," Setsuna said at last. She continued to stare at the stars.

"What? What happened?" Haruka demanded.

"I," Setsuna began, then halted. A look of confusion again crossed her face. "Something has returned me to the day I first noticed the world had changed. But it is now no longer changed," and she continued to stare up into the sky. "I am the one who has changed."

"I don't understand a word you just said," Haruka said with that familiar bluntness that Setsuna suddenly found wonderful.

"The present has been altered," Setsuna murmured, still staring up at the night sky.

"The aliens?" Haruka queried.

"No," Setsuna replied. Then she turned and looked directly at Haruka. "I cannot say why I know what I know. But I know where the aliens are."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Haruka exclaimed. She pushed past Setsuna and ran into the house to wake Michiru.

"Sailor Venus," Setsuna thought suddenly. "Sailor Venus is somehow connected to all of this. Apparently I and I alone have been returned to the past with memories of that path once traveled." A buoyant smile crossed Setsuna's usually world-weary face and she turned to go back inside. "It is good to see you alive again, Haruka. Perhaps this time we may conclude this matter in much more acceptable terms."

The Fiat sped through the nighttime at high speed. The freeway south from the city to Yokohama was nearly deserted at this time of night. Only a single semi-trailer passed them heading into Tokyo with fresh produce from the farms.

"You're certain the aliens aren't still in the city?" Michiru asked. She rode in the passenger seat while Haruka drove. Setsuna was again wedged in the back.

"Yes," Setsuna answered. "Our invasion of their lair in Akasaka was known ahead of time. Our quarry has fled Tokyo for Yokohama in hopes of escaping our efforts to capture them."

"And you know this how?" Michiru inquired.

Setsuna was silent for a moment. "How I know is something I - - must not divulge. I apologize, Michiru. It is not something you or Haruka should know."

Haruka eyed her in the rear view mirror.

"I understand that you have to keep certain things secret, so as not to alter the future," Michiru said carefully. "If, however, you're keeping things from us because you - - well, you're afraid that the facts will somehow hurt us, it's not necessary. We're stronger than we look."

"I do not challenge your assertion," Setsuna replied, "but I still cannot speak further as to how I obtained this information."

"Very well," Michiru nodded. "We'll speak no more about it."

The Fiat parked down the street from a normal residential home just east of the Yokohama business and entertainment district. It seemed normal in every way. But Michiru couldn't contain a fleeting sense of deja vu.

"This set up seems remarkably like the one in Akasaka," Michiru remarked. She and Haruka observed the home from the Fiat.

"We must move," Setsuna told them, her henshin stick out, "now!"

The three piled out of the car and transformed. The residential street was dark, save for the streetlights, and absent of activity. Once the transformation took hold, Sailor Pluto charged for the unassuming residential home, her Time Staff up and ready.

"The direct approach?" Neptune asked as she trailed behind. Uranus had, of course, already caught up to Pluto.

"Time is our enemy more so than discovery," Pluto said to her. Turning to Uranus, she said, "Draw your Space Sword. Bring the energy within it to the blade, but under no circumstances release the sword's energy arcs. The energy field of the sword will force the parasites to relinquish control of their hosts and vacate."

"Got it!" Uranus nodded.

They reached the front door. Pluto brought the Time Staff to bear and blew the door open with a sonic blast. As the trio barreled into the darkened home, Uranus and Neptune stopped for a moment to get their bearings.

"The basement!" Pluto called to them. "Hurry!"

Barely waiting to turn on the light, Pluto rambled down the wooden stairs into the basement. Uranus and Neptune were on her heels, trusting in Pluto's plan despite their misgivings about entering this unknown situation. At the bottom of the stairs, they turned and found the incredible and the horrible: four people, most likely the family that resided here, chained to the far wall with makeshift fetters, cowering in fear.

"Help us! Please!" cried the youngest, a girl of twelve. Uranus and Neptune froze for a moment in astonishment and disgust. Pluto, though, whirled and brought the Time Staff to bear on the shadows under the stairwell.

"Dead Scream!" she said.

The sonic blast slammed point blank into the area under the stairs and guttural cries of pain followed. Uranus and Neptune saw two people fall partially from the shadows. A gun also clattered along the cement floor.

"Now, Uranus!" Pluto shouted, lighting the area with the Garnet Orb. "Neptune, be ready with the Deep Aqua Mirror! Destroy the parasites when they emerge from the hosts! But be wary, both of you! The parasites may lunge at you in order to take control of your bodies!"

Now they could see there were three people under the stairs. Uranus moved in, her Space Sword glowing with built up energy. As the sword drew near the hosts, they in unison began screaming in agony. Uranus glanced at Pluto in confusion, and received a nod of reassurance. The cries of the hosts echoed through the basement until it seemed everyone was engulfed by them. Their pain seemed to reach down into their souls.

"Uranus!" Neptune cried out. "The one nearest you! Coming out of her nose!"

One of the parasites crawled out of the nose of a pudgy woman with red-brown hair piled atop her head. Fighting back shock and revulsion, Uranus jammed the sword blade down until it was almost on top of the parasite. The segmented, multi-limbed entity writhed under the energy, then curled into a ball and rolled to the floor.

"Submarine Reflection," Neptune said coldly. A crimson beam lanced out of the mirror's face and sliced the parasite in two.

Within minutes all three parasites had been extracted and destroyed. Once that was done, Uranus went over to free the imprisoned family. Neptune, though, looked the former hosts over.

"Pluto, they're not looking too healthy," Neptune said.

"Yes, they will need immediate medical attention," Pluto said. She headed upstairs for a phone. Her call was brief. As she hung up the phone, though, Neptune raced up.

"Pluto!" Neptune gasped. "Noriko isn't down there!"

"No," Pluto nodded. "Calm yourself. I know where she can be found."

* * *

The elevator opened and Elza led Noriko to their apartment. As she approached, though, Elza noticed Sailor Neptune waiting by her apartment door.

"Mich . . .!" Elza began, then caught herself. "I mean, Sailor Neptune! Look who I found!"

"Elza," Neptune said as she approached, evenly but with that commanding tone she had that Elza remembered so vividly. "Step away from her."

"What?" Elza gaped. "What are you talking about? It's Noriko!"

Then Noriko shifted. Her weight went to her feet and the arm that had been draped across Elza's shoulder closed around Elza's throat. Noriko brought her right hand up and braced it against the side of Elza's head. Suddenly Elza was caught in a very tight, very deadly vise.

"Stay back!" Noriko commanded in a guttural imitation of Noriko's regular voice. "You let us leave or . . .!"

And Elza felt Noriko stiffen suddenly. Then Noriko crumpled to the floor, emitting a wail of agony akin to a lost soul. Elza turned and found Sailor Uranus holding the blade of a glowing sword to Noriko. Noriko writhed under the energy, crying like she was being tortured.

"Stop! You're hurting her!" Elza cried and lunged at Uranus. Uranus shoved her away and Neptune caught her.

"Don't interfere," Neptune said. Elza turned to her with betrayal etched on her face. She saw Neptune produce the Deep Aqua Mirror and turned back to Noriko in horror.

Then she witnessed a black, segmented, multi-legged creature emerge from Noriko's nose. Gorge rose from her stomach. The creature pulled itself from the nostril, then shoved off Noriko's face and leaped at Elza. But Uranus swatted the creature to the floor.

"Submarine Reflection," Neptune hissed. And the creature was no more. Pulling away from Neptune, Elza knelt down beside the fallen Noriko.

"Noriko!" she wailed. "Are you all right?" A glove closed onto her shoulder.

"No, she's not," Neptune said, her sympathy peeking out behind the senshi mask. "We have to get her to a hospital."

* * *

Days later, Michiru Kaioh and Haruka Tenoh ambled down the hall of a hospital ward. Michiru carried a bouquet of flowers and wore a dark dress and a weather-appropriate jacket. Haruka had her racing jacket on over a sport shirt and slacks, her hands stuffed into her pockets. As they passed through the hall, a pair of nurses turned and stared at Haruka, then turned and whispered to each other. The tall blonde couldn't determine whether the nurses had recognized her or were just attracted to her. After glancing back and seeing they were suitably cute, Haruka decided it really wasn't important why, so long as they were impressed.

As they approached their destination, a woman emerged from the room. She had thick black hair and wore a blue suit over her slim figure. The suit would be conservative if it weren't for the short skirt and the black hose covering her long legs, as well as the Gucci clasp holding the jacket closed. Haruka instantly pegged her as police. The woman noticed them and her face lit up.

"Well, I'm glad to finally meet you two," the woman beamed.

"You recognize us?" Michiru asked, keeping her suspicion well hidden.

"Oh, yes," she said with a knowing smile.

"Racing fan?" Haruka inquired.

"No," the woman responded inscrutably.

"And you are?" Michiru ventured, irritated that this woman seemed to know something she didn't.

"Superintendent-General Natsuna Sakurada," the woman replied. "May I compliment you both on the way you handled this situation. You did this city a great service."

Haruka stared at her, mute but highly agitated. Michiru had more control.

"Excuse me?" Michiru said warily. "I'm not certain I know what you're talking about."

"Talk to V-Chan," Sakurada said with a wry smile. "She'll fill in the blanks."

And then Sakurada walked away, looking like the cat that ate the canary. Haruka and Michiru looked at each other quizzically, then filed the incident away to deal with later.

They entered the hospital room. The television was on, but no one was listening. Michiru noticed a commercial on the TV for Minako Aino's sit-com, "Island Princess" and suddenly wondered if Sakurada had meant Minako when she said "V-Chan". Noriko Abe was laying in bed, softly sleeping. Elza Gray was sitting in the chair by the bed, leafing through a news magazine. She looked up upon hearing the door and her face lit up with joy.

"Michiru! Haruka!" Elza exclaimed, rising to greet them. "I'm so glad you made it back!"

"We would have been here sooner, but Haruka had to meet with the racing people," Michiru explained, handing her the bouquet.

"It's OK. You didn't miss much," Elza said. "Just Noriko sleeping most of the time. She sleeps a lot now. The doctor says it's normal. The body is healing and conserving energy by sleeping."

"How is she?" Haruka ventured.

"Better," Elza told them, relief coloring her voice. "The doctor says there's no chance of paralysis. It's just a question of letting her heal and building her strength back up. He said she might have some damage to her motor skills. It might be hard for her to sew or hold a pen. Hopefully it won't affect her typing or her speech. I know my Noriko. She'd want to get back to work soon."

And suddenly Elza clouded over with emotion. Michiru was about to reach for her, but she looked up at them.

"I don't know how to thank you, Michiru," Elza said, the earnest gratitude in her voice belying the tears bubbling in her eyes. "You and Haruka, and that other woman - - the one with the green-black hair. You saved her. When I think what she was going through with that - - that thing inside of her, draining her life away and making her do all these terrible things. And you saved her."

"It's why we have these powers, Elza," Michiru smiled and patted her shoulder. "It entails some sacrifice, but accomplishing things like this make those sacrifices worthwhile. Knowing you and Noriko as I do, it only makes it that much more worthwhile."

"Tell you what," Haruka piped up. "When she's feeling up to it, let me know and I'll get you tickets to one of my races - - flight there and back included. I've got Monte Carlo in May."

"Well," Elza grinned anxiously, "Noriko's not much for auto racing - - but we will take you up on the plane ride. I've always wanted to see Monte Carlo."

"Then it's a date," Haruka smiled. Michiru beamed at them both.

* * *

Evening found two women dining in a small waterfront restaurant in the Odaiba entertainment district. The restaurant had a stunning view of the Rainbow Bridge and was famous for its Indian cuisine. The women were seated at a quiet table in the back, away from the crowds that, tonight, weren't there. Outside, the winds of early February blew in from across the oceanfront. One of the women was a vivacious beauty with short black hair and dark glasses, dressed in dark colors as if she was hiding. The other was a tall woman with long green-black hair, a sad expression, and a mismatched outfit of a violet jacket with a green skirt and white blouse. They talked as they dined on the house special of curry rice.

"Wow, that's a hell of a story," Minako said, using the end of her spoon to scratch under her black wig. "And I thought I was the only one who remembered 'The Days That Dropped Out of Time'. Is everyone all right?"

"Neither Haruka nor Michiru show any ill effects," Setsuna related. "They are blissfully ignorant of what occurred during the altered days, and it is my wish that they remain so."

"Yeah, no sense courting trouble."

"And all is well with you now?"

"Things couldn't be better," Minako beamed. "The series is going great, I'm going to be in a movie, my album's in the can, Toshi and I are closer than ever," and Minako paused for a moment, overwhelmed. "And I made a new friend out of it, too."

"This Ryoko you spoke of?"

"Yeah. I didn't know if we'd hit it off, because we're so totally different. But she's real easy to get along with. And I introduced her to the gang. She and Usagi hit it off immediately, of course. Ami loves her because she actually understands what Ami's talking about half the time. Makoto's real comfortable around her because she doesn't have to be 'Miss Happy Homemaker' all the time and can let her inner tomboy loose." Minako grinned. "Naturally Rei's a little wary of her because she's suspicious of anybody new. But she can see Ryoko's good people with that priest mumbo-jumbo of hers, so she'll come around." Then inspiration struck. "You have to meet her, Setsuna. Say the word and I'll set you up."

"I," she began, then stopped.

Setsuna was going to beg off, but she realized that "the path once traveled" had contained another lesson, too: that life could change for the worse with a single act and timidity or procrastination only served to risk losing opportunities that might enrich one's life. She glanced at Minako and saw her friend earnestly waiting for an answer and hoping it would be "yes". Minako had always been one who grabbed for life. Maybe it was time she grabbed for a little, too.

"All right, Minako," Setsuna replied. "Perhaps the three of us can dine here."

"Sucked in by the curry rice, weren't you?" Minako grinned.

"Actually," Setsuna said, smirking with a rare devilish glint as she raised her cup to her mouth, "I was quite taken by this wonderful green tea. If its taste can come through after numbing my palette with this extra-spicy curry rice, it must be heavenly by itself."

"You don't like this curry rice?" Minako scowled and rested her chin on her hand. "Some people just don't know how to live."

END


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